Through Magic and Flames: Reading book 2
by The hazel-eyed bookworm
Summary: Second part in the TMAF series. Duncan and Harry are getting more influenced by their mind connection, and more people seems to notice something off in them. Will Ginny be able to cope with the Reading? And what is that silver mark in Maggie's hand? Read to find out!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone, it's back.**

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"HARRY JAMES POTTER EVANS!" the yell was heard for the entire castle.

Everyone had stopped to hear that shout, and in the seventh floor, in a corridor, you could see Harry Potter running as if to save his life, laughing, with a VERY pissed off Duncan following him closely.

The reason? The prank that he and the Weasley twins had pulled on him.

In that moment Duncan tackled his cousin and pinned him against the wall.

"Harry," he spoke in a deadly calm voice. "A punch is being raffled, and I think you have got all the numbers. So. Fix. It. Now."

"Why?" the raven said cheekily. "I like your new hairstyle." Duncan growled at him and a flame came out from his mouth.

"I don't want anyone seeing me with my hair colored like…like…meadow in spring!" grumbled him. Harry just laughed.

Duncan's hair now was without gel, causing his hair to lie a few inches above his shoulders. Oh, and it was green. Electric green.

"Well, Fred and George consider it a special joke, because they don't know the contercurse." Smirked Harry.

"WHAT?!"

"It will last two hours…" Duncan's hair went back to his golden-blond color. "…well…maybe I put too little potency in the spell." Said Harry.

"STUDENTS, PLEASE COME BACK TO THE GREAT HALL TO READ THE SECOND BOOK" Dumbledore's voice echoed through the school, amplified with a "sonorous."

"Saved by luck. But remember, you are SO dead." Said Duncan as he let go of Harry.

And they made their way towards the Great Hall.

"What happened to your hair?" asked Maggie, staring at Duncan's hairstyle.

"Nothing." Said Harry cheerfully.

All the students and the guests were at the Great Hall at the moment, so Dumbledore stood:

"Okay, the second book is called: Harry Potter, Duncan Rosenblatt and the Chamber of Secrets."

"Hopefully you will stay out of trouble this time, won't you?" asked Margaret.

"Our son and our nephew? Highly unlikely." Snorted Belloc.

"One can hope."

"Chapter one." Read Dumbledore. "The Worst Birthday."

Duncan and Harry groaned. _This was going to be a **long** Reading…_

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**Hi everyone I'm back!**

**Pop question: Who will show up for the Reading?**

**H. E. B.**


	2. The worst birthday

**First chapter of the book! Hope you enjoy it!**

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**CHAPTER ONE - THE WORST BIRTHDAY **Fillius started, sighing as he realized that Harry and Duncan would be back at those dreadful Dursley's once more. Obviously, he wasn't the only one who noticed, as nearly everyone sat up straighter at this sentence.

Everyone looked at the Evans.

"Care to explain?" asked Isabel, who was sitting next to Harry.

"You'll find out soon." He answered

**Not for the first time, an argument had broken out over breakfast at number four, Privet Drive. **

"Are there always arguments between Petunia and Vernon, dear?" Margaret asked to Duncan, who shook his head.

**Mr. Vernon Dursley had been woken in the early hours of the morning by a loud, hooting noise from his nephews Harry and Duncan's room.**

"Oh. So the arguments are between you and Vernon. Assholes," Maggie mumbled, crossing her arms.

"Hedwig is never loud without a reason." Dean said clearly remembering when she stayed in the boy's dorm.

**"Third time this week!" he roared across the table. "If you can't control that owls, they'll have to go!"**

"Neither is Finem." Seamus agreed thinking of the same thing.

**Harry tried, yet again, to explain.**

**"They're bored," he said. "They're used to flying around outside. If we could just let them out at night -"**

"They didn't let them out." Hagrid bellowed.

**"Do I look stupid?" snarled Uncle Vernon, a bit of fried egg dangling from his bushy moustache. Duncan tried to hide a smirk.**

"Actually yes." Smirked Duncan

**"I know what'll happen if those owls are let out."He exchanged dark looks with his wife, Petunia. Harry and Duncan tried to argue back but their words were drowned by a long, loud belch from the Dursleys' son, Dudley.**

"Gross," Ginny muttered.

**"I want more bacon."**

"And where are your manners?" Margaret asked, rolling her eyes.

**"There's more in the frying pan, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia, turning misty eyes on her massive son. ****"We must feed you up while we've got the chance... I don't like the sound of that school food..."**

**"Nonsense, Petunia, I never went hungry when I was at Smeltings," said Uncle Vernon heartily. "Dudley gets enough, don't you, son?"**

**_"Enough? I have seen whales thinner!"_**** snorted Duncan in his mind**

"Agreed." Snorted a few people

**Dudley, who was so large his bottom drooped over either side of the kitchen chair, **

Several girls and a few guys looked sick.

**grinned and turned to Harry.**

"That's just disgusting!" Minerva interrupted, her face set in a scowl at the wording and the imagery.

**"Pass the frying pan."**

"You've forgotten the magic word," Belloc snapped, his own arms crossed as he rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that Duncan had to live with these people.

**"You've forgotten the magic word," said Harry irritably. The effect of this simple sentence on the rest of the family was incredible: Dudley gasped and fell off his chair with a crash that shook the whole kitchen; **

People laughed.

**Mrs. Dursley gave a small scream and clapped her hands to her mouth; **

Lee did a high pitched imitation that had every one laughing.

**Mr. Dursley jumped to his feet, veins throbbing in his temples.**

**"He meant `please'!" said Duncan quickly. "He didn't mean -"**

"Why are they making such a big deal about it?" Tonks asked, confusion written on her face, 'It's obvious he meant please. Why don't they see that?"

**"WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU," thundered his uncle, spraying spit over the table,** (Lovely!) **"ABOUT SAYING THE `M' WORD IN OUR HOUSE?"**

"The 'M' word." Draco repeated causing a round of laughs.

**"But I -"**

**"HOW DARE YOU THREATEN DUDLEY!" roared Uncle Vernon, pounding the table with his fist.**

Eyebrows raised at that.

**"I just -"**

**"I WARNED YOU! I WILL NOT TOLERATE MENTION OF YOUR ABNORMALITY UNDER THIS ROOF!"**

"Abnormality." Ron said in a dangerous growl that told people if the redheaded had anything to do with it the Dursleys would be hexed into oblivion.

"THEY ARE NOT ABNORMAL!" Isabel and Maggie yelled.

"Actually…" started Duncan, but Belloc kicked him in the knee, not wanting to hear what Duncan was going to say. That caused said halfbreed to shut up.

**Harry and Duncan stared from his purple-faced uncle to his pale aunt, who was trying to heave Dudley to his feet.**

Harry couldn't stop the chuckle that broke through.

**"All right," said Harry, "all right. . . "**

**Uncle Vernon sat back down, breathing like a winded rhinoceros and watching the Evans closely out of the corners of his small, sharp eyes.**

**Ever since Harry and Duncan had come home for the summer holidays, Uncle Vernon had been treating them like a bomb that might go off at any moment, ** **because Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt weren't normal boys. As a matter of fact, they were as not normal as it is possible to be.**

**Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt were wizards**

"Muggle perspective." Hermione said before anyone could open their mouths.

**-fresh from their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. And if the Dursleys were unhappy to have them back for the holidays, it was nothing to how Harry and Duncan felt.**

"That's not right." Hannah grumbled.

**They missed Hogwarts so much it was like having a constant stomach-ache. **

**They missed the castle, with its secret passageways and ghosts, his classes (though perhaps not Snape, the Potions master), **

Belloc snorted and Snape glared. Hell, Belloc was starting to remind him of James…

**the mail arriving by owl, eating banquets in the Great Hall, sleeping in his four-poster bed in the tower dormitory, visiting the gamekeeper, Hagrid, in his cabin next to the Forbidden Forest in the grounds, and, especially, Quidditch, the most popular sport in the wizarding world (six tall goal posts, four flying balls, and fourteen players on broomsticks).**

_I know the feeling, pups_, Sirius thought, whining a little. Harry and Duncan, having heard this, began petting their godfather.

"I can't believe." Said Ron

"We're not mentioned." Finished Hermione.

**All the cousins's spell books, their wands, robes, cauldron, and top-of-the-line Nimbus Two Thousand broomstick had been locked in a cupboard under the stairs by Uncle Vernon the instant Harry and Duncan had come home.**

"But how is he to do his homework? Or have fun?" Isabel questioned, squeezing Harry's hand to calm herself down.

**What did the Dursleys care if the Evans lost their place on the House Quidditch team because they hadn't practiced all summer? **

"You're too much of a natural, kids" Margaret interrupted, smiling.

**What was it to the Dursleys if Harry and Duncan went back to school without any of their homework done? **

"You had it done." The teachers said.

**The Dursleys were what wizards called Muggles (not a drop of magical blood in their veins), and as far as they were concerned, having wizards in the family was a matter of deepest shame. **

Sirius could be heard growling, thinking about how much the Dursley's reminded him of his own family.

Duncan started to imagine the Dursley's faces when they discover he was a halfbreed. Harry saw the images and started laughing quietly, a very Kaiju-like laugh. Duncan jumped in shock and stared at Harry wide-eyed.

"_Want me to have a heart attack_?" he asked. "_And why were you laughing_?"

"_Why laugh would cause you a heart attack?"_ Harry asked back. "_And I saw the things you were imagining."_

Shocked silence for a while. Then:

"_Since when we can share images?"_

**Uncle Vernon had even padlocked Harry and Duncan's owls, Hedwig and Finem, inside their cages, to stop them from carrying messages to anyone in the wizarding world.**

A lot of cries of outrage carried through the hall.

**Neither Harry nor Duncan looked nothing like the rest of the family. **

"Thanks God for that." Said Maggie.

**Uncle Vernon was large and neckless, with an enormous black moustache; Aunt Petunia was horse-faced and bony; Dudley was blond, pink, and porky. **

"A family of animals, basically," Lily laughed, shaking her head.

**Harry, on the other hand, was small and skinny, with brilliant green eyes and jet-black hair that was always untidy. He wore round glasses, and on his forehead was a thin, lightning-shaped scar. Duncan was small and skinny, with orange skin, sparkling brown eyes, and blonde hair that was always untidy, since he didn't like to comb his hair. So Duncan had his unusual skin, and Harry his scar. It was this scar that made Harry so particularly unusual, even for a wizard. **

**This scar was the only hint of Harry's very mysterious past, of the reason he had been left on the Dursleys' doorstep eleven years before.**

"And it makes me hate him even more."

**At the age of one year old, Harry had somehow survived a curse from the greatest Dark sorcerer of all time, Lord Voldemort, whose name most witches and wizards still feared to speak. **

**Harry's parents had died in Voldemort's attack, but Harry had escaped with his lightning scar, and somehow - nobody understood why Voldemort's powers had been destroyed the instant he had failed to kill Harry. So Harry had been brought up by his dead mother's sister and her husband. He had spent ten years with the Dursleys, the last four with Duncan too, never understanding why he kept making odd things happen without meaning to, believing the Dursleys' story that he had got his scar in the car crash that had killed his parents.**

People growled at the reminder.

**And then, exactly a year ago, Hogwarts had written to Harry and Duncan, and the whole story had come out. Harry had taken up his place at wizard school, where he and his scar were famous ... but now the school year was over, and he and Duncan were back with the Dursleys for the summer, back to being treated like a dog that had rolled in something smelly.**

Sirius barked at this and wagged his tail while Harry laughed and hugged his godfather.

**The Dursleys hadn't even remembered that today happened to be Harry's twelfth birthday. **

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARRY!" The twins yelled, shooting sprinkles out of their wands, as Harry laughed some more.

**Of course, his hopes hadn't been high; they'd never given him a real present, let alone a cake - but to ignore it completely... ****At that moment, Uncle Vernon cleared his throat importantly and said, **

**"Now, as we all know, today is a very important day." **

"I can't believe it." Some people said shocked.

**Harry and Duncan looked up, hardly daring to believe it. **

**This could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career, "said Uncle Vernon. **

"Oh."

**Harry went back to his toast and Duncan let out a soft growl, sure that Vernon had did it to raise Harry's hopes.**

"You're right." Said Harry

** Of course, he thought bitterly, Uncle Vernon was talking about the stupid dinner party. He'd been talking of nothing else for two weeks. Some rich builder and his wife were coming to dinner and Uncle Vernon was hoping to get a huge order from him (Uncle Vernon's company made drills).**

**"I think we should run through the schedule one more time," **

"Excuse me?" asked Margaret, her lips trembling to try to hide a smile

**said Uncle Vernon. "We should all be in position at eight o'clock. Petunia, you will be -?"**

**"In the lounge," said Aunt Petunia promptly, "waiting to welcome them graciously to our home."**

**"Good, good. And Dudley?"**

**"I'll be waiting to open the door." Dudley put on a foul, simpering smile. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"**

"No I don't like pigs." Kenny said and people laughed.

**"They'll love him!" cried Aunt Petunia rapturously.**

Belloc snorted at this line.

"She delusional." Bill sighed.

**"Excellent, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon. Then he rounded on Harry and Duncan. "And you two?"**

**"We'll be in our bedroom, making no noise and pretending we're not there," said Harry tonelessly.**

Margaret glared, Belloc hissed and Sirius growled while Remus bit his lip, angry with the Dursley's for being horrible to his cubs.

**"Exactly," said Uncle Vernon nastily. "I will lead them into the lounge, introduce you, Petunia, and pour them -drinks. At eight fifteen-"**

**I'll announce dinner," said Aunt Petunia.**

**"And, Dudley, you'll say -"**

**"May I take you through to the dining room, Mrs. Mason?" said Dudley, offering his fat arm to an invisible woman.**

**"My perfect little gentleman!" sniffed Aunt Petunia.**

Another snort from Belloc at this line, causing Duncan to snort in return.

"Delusional was an understatement bro." Charlie corrected.

**"And you?" said Uncle Vernon viciously to Harry and Duncan.**

"We'll be in our room, making no noise and pretending we're not there," said Duncan and Harry dully

"They have names you barbaric dunderhead." Maggie growled.

**"We'll be in our room, making no noise and pretending we're not there," said the cousins in synchrony dully.**

**"Precisely. Now, we should aim to get in a few good compliments at dinner. Petunia, any ideas?"**

**"Vernon tells me you're a wonderful golfer, Mr. Mason...Do tell me where you bought your dress, Mrs. Mason..."**

"Not bad." Someone commented

**"Perfect. . . Dudley?"**

**"How about -'We had to write an essay about our hero at school, Mr. Mason, and I wrote about you."'**

That sent waves of laughter threw the room.

**This was too much for Aunt Petunia, Duncan and Harry. **

People sent them odd looks

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears and hugged her son, while Harry and Duncan ducked under the table so they wouldn't see them laughing.**

**The Hall had not that restraint.**

**"And you, boys?"**

**Duncan fought to keep his face straight as he emerged.**

"I bet that was hard." Susan sniggered.

**"We'll be in our room, making no noise and pretending we're not there," he said.**

**"Too right, you will," said Uncle Vernon forcefully. "The Masons don't know anything about you and it's going to stay that way. When dinner's over, you take Mrs. Mason back to the lounge for coffee, Petunia, and I'll bring the subject around to drills. With any luck, I'll have the deal signed and sealed before the News at Ten. We'll be shopping for a vacation home in Majorca this time tomorrow."**

**Harry couldn't feel too excited about this. He didn't think the Dursleys would like him any better in Majorca than they did on Privet Drive.**

The laughter that had earlier erupted in the great hall suddenly stopped, and everyone started looking at Harry with pity. Harry, not liking the glances, started growling loudly, causing everyone to look away from him. Belloc, however, was looking surprised.

"You could have said something; I know a lot of places where we could stay. But, of course, you wouldn't allow me." Grumbled Duncan. Harry understood he was talking about the time he had ran away.

**"Right - I'm off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And you," he snarled at Harry. "You stay out of your aunt's way while she's cleaning."**

**Harry and Duncan left through the back door. It was a brilliant, sunny day. He crossed the lawn, slumped down on the garden bench, and sang under his breath:**

**"Happy birthday to me ... happy birthday to me. . ."**

"Now that's just depressing" said Kenny.

**"Happy birthday dear Harry…happy birthday to you" Duncan sang as he took out a silver chain with a pendant out of his pocket.**

Cue disbelieving looks.

"Duncan, what-?"

"What in the bloody-?"

"You brought him a present!"

"But how did you paid it?"

"It will be all explained." Said Duncan

"You are a good brother, Duncan." Maggie smiled.

**"Duncan what the hell?!" gasped Harry as he took the pendant.**

**"Well, it was your birthday and I know they wouldn't get you anything, so I "borrowed" a few pounds that were on the table and I brought it."**

"Duncan, should I be worried about your stealing problem?" asked Belloc.

"This happened four years ago, besides at least he got a present."

"But still, we will talk about it." Said Margaret. Duncan gulped.

** Duncan explained. "D'you like it?"**

**"Like it? I love it! Thank you!" said Harry cheerfully as he put the pendant on and hid it under his shirt. Duncan smiled.**

**"Now we have to wait from your other presents."**

"_Mine_!" said Maggie cheerfully in her mind.

**They gazed into the hedge. They felt incomplete. More than anything else at Hogwarts, more even than playing Quidditch, Harry and Duncan missed their best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. **

"There we are." Hermione smiled.

**They, however, didn't seem to be missing them at all. Neither of them had written to him all summer, even though Ron had said he was going to ask Harry and Duncan to come and stay.**

"Explanations are in the book." Harry said before people could even begin on accusations.

**Countless times, Harry and Duncan had been on the point of unlocking Hedwig or Finem's cage by magic and sending them to Ron and Hermione with a letter, but it wasn't worth the risk. Underage wizards weren't allowed to use magic outside of school. The Evans hadn't told the Dursleys this;**

Nico laughed quietly.

** they knew it was only their terror that they might turn them all into dung beetles that stopped them from locking them in the cupboard under the stairs with his wand and broomstick. **

Belloc, Sirius and Remus growled, remembering that Harry had slept in there for ten years, and Duncan for four.

**For the first couple of weeks back, Harry and Duncan had enjoyed muttering nonsense words under his breath and watching Dudley tearing out of the room as fast as his fat legs would carry him. **

People sniggered.

**But the long silence from Ron and Hermione had made Harry and Duncan feel so cut off from the magical world that even taunting Dudley had lost its appeal – **

"You were depressed." Ernie said slightly shocked.

**and now Ron and Hermione had forgotten his birthday.**

"Harry, we would never—" Hermione began, but Harry interrupted her.

"I know."

**What wouldn't he give now for a message from Hogwarts? From any witch or wizard? He'd almost be glad of a sight of his archenemy, Draco Malfoy, just to be sure it hadn't all been a dream …**

**Not that his whole year at Hogwarts had been fun. ****At the very end of last term, Harry and Duncan had come face-to-face with none other than Lord Voldemort himself. ****Voldemort might be a ruin of his former self, but he was still terrifying, still cunning, still determined to regain power. ****Harry had slipped through Voldemort's clutches for a second time, but it had been a narrow escape, and even now, weeks later, Harry and Duncan kept waking in the night, drenched in cold sweat, wondering where Voldemort was now, remembering his livid face, his wide, mad eyes…**

**"**Oh sweetie…" muttered Margaret

**the cousins suddenly sat bolt upright on the garden bench. **

**They had been staring absent-mindedly into the hedge - and the hedge was _staring back_.**

People sat up straighter.

**Two enormous green eyes had appeared among the leaves. Duncan jumped to his feet just as a jeering voice floated across the lawn.**

**"I know what day it is," sang Dudley, waddling toward him.**

**The huge eyes blinked and vanished.**

**"What?" said Harry, not taking his eyes off the spot where they had been.**

**"I know what day it is," Dudley repeated, coming right up to him.**

**"Well done," said Duncan. "So you've finally learned the days of the week."**

The Gryffindors lived up to their lion and roared with laughter.

**"Today's your birthday, Potter. Tomorrow's yours, Rosenblatt" sneered Dudley. "How come you haven't got any cards? Haven't you even got friends at that freak place?"**

"YES THEY HAVE!" their friends yelled

**"Better not let your mum hear you talking about my school," said Harry coolly.**

**Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping down his fat bottom.**

"EEEEWWWWW." Several girls squealed.

**"Why're you staring at the hedge?" he said suspiciously.**

**" I'm trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire," said Duncan.**

"Good one, son" chuckled Belloc

**Dudley stumbled backward at once, a look of panic on his fat face.**

**"You c-can't - Dad told you you're not to do m-magic - he said he'll chuck you out of the house - and you haven't got anywhere else to go - you haven't got any friends to take you -"**

"Hello? I am here." said Maggie

**"Duncan, don't be stupid." Snapped Harry. Duncan and Dudley looked at him. "You know that you can put things on fire without a spell. Lucky you, really." Muttered.**

**"**That scared him?" Isabel asked hopefully.

"Wait for it." Smirked Harry

**Duncan smirked evilly and he made a ring of fire appear over Dudley's head.**

**"MUUUUUUM!" howled Dudley, tripping over his feet as he dashed back toward the house. "MUUUUM! He's doing you know what!"**

People roared with laughter.

**Harry and Duncan paid dearly for his moment of fun. **

The laughter abruptly stopped.

**As neither Dudley nor the hedge was in any way hurt, Aunt Petunia knew Harry hadn't really done magic, and Duncan's spell was harmless, but they still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at their head with the soapy frying pan. **

"What." The hall screamed and Harry rubbed his head remembering when she hadn't missed. Duncan rubbed his back and he could see the understanding in his eyes, more than what most had.

Many people had to move to the side as Belloc gave a fresh burst of fire from her wife's wand, which had been holding, in his anger while muttering about how his wife's darling sister would feel if he did the same to her own son.

**Then she gave them work to do, with the promise they wouldn't eat again until they'd finished.**

**More muttering from Belloc. Duncan started grinning.**

Remus let out a growl.

_Half-breeds around children._ Fudge thought in disgust.

**The cousins cleaned the windows, washed the car, mowed the lawn, trimmed the flowerbeds, pruned and watered the roses, and repainted the garden bench. The sun blazed overhead, burning the back of their necks. Duncan knew he shouldn't have risen to Dudley's bait, but Dudley had said the very thing Duncan had been thinking himself... maybe he didn't have any friends at Hogwarts...**

Oh Duncan," Maggie whispered, squeezing his hand at the same time his mother cursed under her breath of all the things she'd make Dudley do as payback.

**Wish they could see famous Harry Potter now, Harry thought savagely as he spread manure on the flowerbeds, his back aching, sweat running down his face.**

**"Harry? Duncan?" said a feminine voice.**

"I am entering" thought Maggie.

**Harry and Duncan turned around and saw the voice's owner. Maggie Kent, a brown-haired, green-eyed girl was standing in front of them. They grinned hugely.**

"And the trio is reunited again!" cheered Duncan happily

**"Maggie, hi. How was Beauxbatons?" that was the magic school that Maggie had attended the previous year. "You learned French, I suppose?" Harry chuckled.**

"It's a French school, Harry." Isabel said as if she was explaining that two plus two was four.

**Ouais, je devais le faire. Je suis bon dans ce domaine." ****Said Maggie**

"Yeah, I had to. I am good at it." Belloc traduced. Trust he to learn some things quicker than humans

**«Je suis heureux de l'entendre." Said Duncan. Harry looked at him in shock**

"Since when do you speak French?" asked Margaret puzzled

"Once I heard Maggie practicing it, and I don't know how, I understood it." Duncan shrugged

**«Vous parlez français?" asked Maggie surprised**

**"Seuls quelques mots." Shrugged Duncan**

"Yeah, only a few words" said Maggie sarcastically

**"Anyway, Happy birthday Harry!" Maggie said happily, handing Harry a photo of the three of them from earlier that summer. Harry put it in his pocket.**

**"Thanks Mags!" said Harry hugging her. Duncan growled a bit.**

"Jealous?" asked Harry. Duncan didn't responded, and Harry remembered that he didn't need one more reason for Duncan to kill him.

**"Mags, I love that you are here, but you have to go…" started Duncan, seeing Dudley coming. ****"Le bébé baleine est à venir, et nous ne voulons pas être en difficulté."**

"The baby whale is coming, we don't want to be in trouble" said Maggie between laughs. The Hall son joined her.

** Said Duncan quickly in french. Harry swore to himself that he would convince Duncan to teach him that language.**

**"Oh. Très bien. Je reviendrai ici demain pour vous donner votre présent, Duncan." She said sweetly.**

"Oh. Okay, I'll come here tomorrow to give you your present, Duncan" Maggie traduced, smiling sweetly at Duncan, who felt himself blush.

** Duncan smiled to himself and started working again**

**It was half past seven, in the evening when at last, exhausted, he heard Aunt Petunia calling him.**

More Spanish swear word where heard, then French and various other languages which they couldn't identify from various pure bloods around the room.

**"Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!"**

**Harry and Duncan moved gladly into the shade of the gleaming kitchen. On top of the fridge stood tonight's pudding: a huge mound of whipped cream and sugared violets. A loin of roast pork was sizzling in the oven.**

"Which you'll get non of I suppose." Molly huffed.

**"Eat quickly! The Masons will be here soon!" snapped Aunt Petunia, pointing to two slices of bread and a lump of cheese on the kitchen table, as well to a slice of meat for Duncan. **

The Weasleys looked uncharacteristically dark.

**She was already wearing a salmon-pink cocktail dress.**

**Harry and Duncan washed his hands and bolted down his pitiful supper. The moment he had finished, Aunt Petunia whisked away his plate.**

**"Upstairs! Hurry!"**

**As they passed the door to the living room, Harry and Duncan caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow ties and dinner jackets. They had only just reached the upstairs landing when the door bell rang and Uncle Vernon's furious face appeared at the foot of the stairs.**

**"Remember, boys - one sound -"**

Duncan held Maggie's hand as he said something in Spanish that must have been swearing.

**Harry and Duncan crossed to his bedroom on tiptoe slipped inside, closed the door, and Duncan turned to collapse on his bed. The trouble was, there was already someone sitting on it.**

People practically bounced. "That's the chapter."

"I'll read next." said Maggie

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**Due to a question, I am going to clarify: Maggie it's in real life Valentina "Vale" De María. Me, but I have HAZEL eyes and I speak Spanish instead of French**

**Pop question: Who would you like to come for the Reading?**

**R&R!**

**H. E. B.**


	3. Dobby's warning

**This chapter will have the introduction of some guests. This will be another chapter without beta because the computer says that it can't send my messages. Sorry a lot Dragon Halfing! Really sorry!**

**Enjoy...**

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Just then, two persons opened the door and everybody turned to look at Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy.

"Oh, they have arrived. Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy had come here to Read as my guests." Fudge explained. Duncan wanted to say something but he held back. He still had detention with that toad woman…she didn't look too pleasant…

Harry growled. Obviously the Malfoys had come because things weren't turning up as expected…yeah, this would be an interesting reading…

Dumbledore had started explaining the events of the first book to the Malfoys and was already in the previous chapter when the Hall started commenting the previous chapter, making impossible to hear anything. Umbridge tried to calm the students, but as usual she couldn't.

"ANYWAY…" roared Belloc, wanting to started reading already. "Duncan and Harry went to their bedroom, everything was fine and dandy and…" but he was interrupted by an outburst of hysterical laughter by his son.

"D-D-Did you just said 'dandy'?" asked Duncan between chuckles**. (_What? It's a funny word, isn't it?)_** Belloc blushed a bit but then he finished the explanation. Maggie picked up the book

"**CHAPTER TWO, Dobby's Warning"**

** Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing. Duncan just stared. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. **

"What the bloody hell in Merlin is a house elf doing at a muggle home?" Kass asked, her eyebrow arched in confusion and her arms crossed at her chest.

**Duncan knew instantly that this was what had been watching him out of the garden hedge that morning. As Harry, Duncan and the creature stared at each other, Harry heard Dudley's voice from the hall. **

"**May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"**

"Oh my God, they are actually doing it" said dumbfounded Jenna.

** The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long, thin nose touched the carpet. Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm- and leg-holes.**

"His family is not good if he is wearing that way." Said Nico angrily. The Malfoys looked oblivious.

"**Er — hello," said Harry nervously. Duncan waved**

"**Harry Potter!" said the creature in a high-pitched voice Harry was sure would carry down the stairs. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir… Such an honor it is…"**

"Not another fan." Sighed Isabel. Harry chuckled

**Th-thank you," said Harry, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her large cage. **

**"Who are you?" asked Duncan suspiciously **

"**Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature.**

"Dobby?" said the Malfoys angrily

"**Oh — really?" said Harry and Duncan together.**

**"**Can we call you the Evans twins?" asked Nico innocently. To his surprise they nodded

** "Er — I don't want to be rude or anything, but — this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom."**

"How in hell did you learn those manners?" asked Maggie.

Harry pointed at Duncan. Duncan pointed at his Mom. She smiled.

** Aunt Petunia's high, false laugh sounded from the living room.**

Duncan, Harry and Margaret shuddered.

** The elf hung his head. **

"**Not that I'm not pleased to meet you," said Harry quickly, "but, er, is there any particular reason you're here?" **

"**Oh, yes, sir," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir… it is difficult, sir… Dobby wonders where to begin…" **

**"Maybe from the beginning?" said Duncan idly, listening to any noise from the ground floor.**

Snorts were heard.

"**Sit down," said Harry politely, pointing at the bed.**

"Oh no, Harry." Rosezelene shook her head, knowing how a house elf would react to such kindness.

**To his horror, the elf burst into tears — very noisy tears. **

"**_S-sit down_****!" he wailed. "_Never_… _never ever_…" Harry thought he heard the voices downstairs falter. Duncan gasped**

"**I'm sorry," Duncan whispered, "I'm sure he didn't mean to offend you or anything —" **

"**Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has _never _been asked to sit down by a wizard — like an _equal _—" **

"Because most don't think of them as equals," Hermione muttered angrily with Harry grinning at her.

**Harry, trying to say "Shh!" and look comforting at the same time, with Duncan ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll.**

Snorts were heard around the hall.

**At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of watery adoration. **

"**You can't have met many decent wizards," said Duncan, trying to cheer him up. Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, "_Bad _Dobby! _Bad _Dobby!" **

"What the-?" asked Keny

"**Don't — what are you doing?" Duncan hissed, springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed — Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and was beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage. **

"**Dobby had to punish himself, sirs," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sirs…" **

**"**That's horrible!" screamed an indignant Isabel. Hermione lit up and Duncan, Harry and Ron groaned.

"**Your family?" asked Duncan**

"**The wizard family Dobby serves, sir… Dobby is a house-elf — bound to serve one house and one family forever…" **

"**Do they know you're here?" asked Harry curiously. Dobby shuddered. **

"**Oh, no, sir, no… Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir —" **

"**But won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?" asked Harry as Duncan winced**

As did most of the Hall.

"**Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments…"**

"If I ever meet this family…" said Isabel.

"Sounds like the – oh." Nico said, looking at the smirking Malfoys before glaring.

"**But why don't you leave? Escape?" asked Duncan, thinking that the method had worked on him. **

Duncan bit his lip and Margaret looked down

"**A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free… Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir…" Harry and Duncan stared. **

"**And we thought we had it bad staying here for another four weeks," he said. "This makes the Dursleys sound almost human.**

**"Almost." Growled Duncan**

**"**Agreed" chorused the Hall

** Can't anyone help you? Can't I?" Almost at once, Duncan wished he hadn't spoken. Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude. **

"**Please," Harry whispered frantically, "please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you're here —" **

"**Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt asks if he can help Dobby… Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew…" **

**The cousins, who were feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish." Said Duncan while Harry nodded. **

Belloc stared at Duncan.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing" said Duncan quickly

**" I'm not even top of my year at Hogwarts; that's Hermione, she —" **

Hermione smiled lightly, Ron snorted and Snape looked confused, wondering that surely the Potter brat would want to hear about his 'greatness'.

**But he stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful. **

"**Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt are humble and modest," said Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. **

"**Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named —" **

"**Voldemort?" said Harry. Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears and moaned, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"**

"It's just a name!" said Isabel

"Not even his real name! said Duncan

"**Sorry," said Harry quickly. "I know lots of people don't like it. My friend Ron —" He stopped again. Thinking about Ron was painful, too. Dobby leaned toward Harry and Duncan, his eyes wide as headlights. **

"**Dobby heard tell," he said hoarsely, "that Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt met the Dark Lord for a second time just weeks ago… that they escaped _yet again_." Duncan nodded and Dobby's eyes suddenly shone with tears. **

Margaret, Molly and Belloc shuddered, remembering all too well about Harry and Duncan's second time with Voldemort.

"**Ah, sir," he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry Potter is valiant and bold, and Duncan Rosenblatt too! They have braved so many dangers already!**

**"**Agreed" said Margaret glaring at Belloc.

** But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt, to warn them, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later… _Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt must not go back to Hogwarts_." **

"Why the bloody hell no?" asked Belloc, his voice laced with confusion and anger.

**There was a silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice. **

"**W-what?" Harry stammered. "But we've got to go back — term starts on September first. It's all that's keeping me going. You don't know what it's like here. We don't _belong _here. We belong in your world — at Hogwarts." **

"Yeah!" agreed most of the Hall.

"**No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt must stay where they are safe. **

"I'll never be _safe_, so drop it." Grumbled Duncan under his breath.

**They are too great, too good, to lose. If Harry and Duncan Evans goes back to Hogwarts, they will be in mortal danger." **

"Isn't they always, though?" Neville snorted, the twins looking on in awe at his sarcastic comment.

"**Why?" said Duncan in surprise. **

"**There is a plot. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry and Duncan Evans must not put themselves in peril. They is too important, sir!" **

"**What terrible things?" said Harry at once. **

**"Who's plotting them?" asked Duncan immediately**

**Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall. **

"**All right!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell us. I understand. But why are you warning _us_?" A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. **

"**Hang on — this hasn't got anything to do with Vol — sorry — with You-Know-Who, has it? You could just shake or nod,"**

"Good orders" said Belloc nodding his head.

** he added hastily as Dobby's head tilted worryingly close to the wall again. Slowly, Dobby shook his head. **

"**Not — not _He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named_, sir —" But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give the cousins a hint. They, however, were completely lost. **

"**He hasn't got a brother, has he?" asked Duncan**

"No, he was an only child." Said Dumbledore

**Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever. **

"**Well then, I can't think who else would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," said Harry. "I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one thing — you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?" Dobby bowed his head.**

"Who doesn't know Dumbledore?" asked Draco

"I didn't" said Jenna. Draco blushed.

"**Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his strength. But, sir" — Dobby's voice dropped to an urgent whisper — "there are powers Dumbledore doesn't… powers no decent wizard…" And before the Evans could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized Harry's desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head with earsplitting yelps. **

"Oh no" muttered Kenny paling.

**A sudden silence fell downstairs. Two seconds later Harry, heart thudding madly, heard Uncle Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!" **

**"**Oh crap." Said Belloc worriedly.

**"Oh crap." Whispered Duncan**

"**Quick! In the closet!" hissed Harry, stuffing Dobby in and shutting the door. The cousins flinging themselves onto the beds just as the door handle turned. **

"**What — the —_devil _— are — you — doing?" said Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, his face horribly close to Duncan's. "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke… One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, boys!"**

**"**I'll commit murder once these books are done." Grumbled Belloc

** He stomped flat-footed from the room. Shaking, Duncan let Dobby out of the closet. **

**Belloc's head perked up and looked at Duncan strangely. Even when he was facing the counsel he never appeared frightened, so why this was the case?**

"**See what it's like here?" he said. "See why we've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place I've got — well, I _think _I've got friends." **

"Yes you have!" yelled the Weasleys, Hermione, Nico, Grace, Rosezelene and Kass

"**Friends who don't even _write _to Harry and Duncan?" said Dobby slyly.**

"Well hold on a minute, how would the house elf know if his friends haven't been—"

"Seriously, Kass, think about it!" Rosezelene interrupted her, rolling her eyes as she thought and Cornelius continued reading.

"**How do _you _know my friends haven't been writing to me?" asked Duncan dangerously.**

"Duncan's angry, everybody cover!" yelled Grace. Dunce chuckled.

** Dobby shuffled his feet. **

"**Duncan Evans mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best —" **

"**_Have you been stopping my letters?_****" yelled Duncan quietly, looking ready to pounce**

"This should be good." Belloc said in anticipation.

"**Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of the cousins's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Duncan could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl, and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid. Dobby blinked anxiously up at the Evans. **

"**Harry and Duncan Evans mustn't be angry… Dobby hoped… if Harry and Duncan Evans thought their friends had forgotten them… they might not want to go back to school, sir…" Harry wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach. **

"**Harry and Duncan Evans will have them, sirs, if they gives Dobby their word that they will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sirs, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!" **

"It's a magical contract, don't say it!" yelled Bill.

**Duncan and Harry looked at each other and nodded. Harry moved in front of Dobby and Duncan behind him. **

"I think I know where you are going…" said Nico smirking.

**Duncan pounced at the elf and Harry tried to reach him in the front. Dobby evaded them two and moved out of the way.**

"Damn"

** Duncan glared fire at him, growling.**

**"Give us our friends's letters…" his voice was now more like resembling growls and hisses.**

"That's my little boy." Said Belloc proudly while Duncan blushed

** "Or you will know why I am named Belloc Junior." He threatened, his eyes shining a sinister shade of green. Dobby's eyes widened.**

"Now you are using _me_ as a threat?" asked Belloc surprised.

"Yep."

**"Oh yeah." Smirked Duncan in satisfaction while Harry stared at him wide-eyed. "Why would I lie about my own heritage? Nobody has to know that you are here, so nobody will know that bit of information…if you know what's good for you."**

"You little manipulator." Said Belloc, his eyes shining. Margaret looked astounded.

"**Duncan Rosenblatt is threatening Dobby, but he says they'll go to Hogwarts. Then Duncan and Harry Evans leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly. Before they could move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the stairs. **

"Oh no. Dobby, please don't do anything that will get my son into trouble,"

**Mouth dry, stomach lurching, they sprang after him, trying not to make a sound. Duncan jumped the last ten steps, landing catlike on the hall carpet, looking around for Dobby.**

"Not bad." Said Kenny

** From the dining room he heard Uncle Vernon saying, "… tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. She's been dying to hear…" Harry and Duncan ran up the hall into the kitchen. Harry felt his stomach disappear and Duncan was whimpering softly. **

Margaret's turn to stare at Duncan

**Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets, was floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby. **

"**No," croaked Duncan. "Please… they'll kill us…" **

Sirius growled at this, and after calming him down a little bit, Harry added, "Well, not really. They'll just lock us up for a while with no food and—" But stopped, realizing how bad that sounded to everyone.

"**Harry and Duncan must say they's not going back to school —" **

"**Dobby… please…" begged Harry**

"**Say it, sir —" **

"**I can't —" Dobby gave him a tragic look. **

"**Then Dobby must do it, sirs, for the Evans's own good." The pudding fell to the floor with a heart-stopping crash. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered.**

"NO!" yelled the Gryffindors

** With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanished. **

Isabel and Maggie flinched.

**There were screams from the dining room and Uncle Vernon burst into the kitchen to find Harry and Duncan, rigid with shock, covered from head to foot in Aunt Petunia's pudding. At first, it looked as though Uncle Vernon would manage to gloss the whole thing over. ("Just our nephews —very disturbed — meeting strangers upsets them, so we kept them upstairs…") He shooed the shocked Masons back into the dining room, promised the cousins he would flay them to within an inch of their life when the Masons had left,**

**"**Did he hit you?" asked Belloc, so angry that Duncan could feel that he would transform back in any moment.

"No!" he said hastily.

** and handed them a mop. Aunt Petunia dug some ice cream out of the freezer. Duncan and Harry still shaking, started scrubbing the kitchen clean. **

**Uncle Vernon might still have been able to make his deal — if it hadn't been for the owl. **

**Aunt Petunia was just passing around a box of after-dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs. Mason's head, and swooped out again. Mrs. Mason screamed like a banshee**

This earned a few chuckles

** and ran from the house shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed just long enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife was mortally afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask whether this was their idea of a joke. **

"But they have no imagination—"

"Or did you not know that?"

**The cousins stood in the kitchen, clutching each other's hands for support, as Uncle Vernon advanced on them, a demonic glint in his tiny eyes.**

"**Read it!" he hissed evilly, brandishing the letter the owl had delivered. "Go on — read it!" **

**Harry took it. It did not contain birthday greetings. **

**_Dear Mr. Potter/Rosenblatt, _**

**_We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine. As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school. (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C). _**

**_We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy. _**

**_Enjoy your holidays! _**

"Really?!" shouted almost everyone

**_Yours sincerely, _**

**_Mafalda Hopkirk _**

**_IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE _**

**_Ministry of Magic _**

"So it wasn't you?" asked Fudge surprised. The Evans nodded

**Harry and Duncan looked up from the letter and gulped. **

"**You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it… Slipped your mind, I daresay…" **

**He was bearing down on Harry and Duncan like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you, boys… I'm locking you up… **

Sirius and Belloc started shaking with rage. As a convict, they knew very well how bad it was to be locked up. They couldn't believe that Dursley idiot had gone out of his way with Harry and Duncan's punishment even with them just having received an official warning by the Ministry.

**You're never going back to that school… never… and if you try and magic yourself out — they'll expel you!"**

"DON'T TOUCH HIM!" roared Belloc, Margaret and the majority of the students.

** he said, making a grab for Duncan's arm.**

**Duncan now was so scared that he lost control.**

Duncan put his head in his hands. "_I can beat two full-grown Kaijus and I am scared of a mere Muggle, who could overpower me easily. Maybe Dad was right…I was so weak…weak and pathetic…"_

Harry was horrified as he heard such thoughts coming from Duncan. Since when he was so full of self-hatred? Since when he was so depressed? Since when he had changed?

**"GET OFF ME!" he screamed, and Vernon let go of him as a fire was started in the kitchen. The fire made a protective ring around the cousins, who were pale.**

"All right…Duncan made the fire appear willingly at twelve years old." Said Belloc slowly. "That is…"

"Cool!"

"Awesome!"

"Incredible!

"Life-saving!"

"…not supposed to happen."

**"_Oh oh."_ Duncan thought shakily.**

**Petunia started screaming and Vernon' face became more purple.**

**"What did you do, freak?**

"Don't-call-my-son-a-freak" hissed Margaret

** Fix it!" he bellowed. Duncan looked at Harry and he nodded, knowing that they would have to leave the ring sooner or later. Steeling himself, Duncan extinguished the fire. As it had been on the kitchen a few second it hadn't burn anything. Duncan closed his eyes, and had collapsed to the ground if Harry hadn't grabbed him. **

Belloc winced

**He opened his eyes.**

**"Good. Now, come here." he said, grabbing both of his nephews. And, laughing like a maniac, he dragged them upstairs.**

**Uncle Vernon was as bad as his word. The following morning, he paid a man to fit bars on the Evans's window. **

"It's not like he's an Azkaban madman!" Maggie shouted, making Sirius flinch, which only Margaret noticed.

**He himself fitted a cat-flap in the bedroom door, so that small amounts of food could be pushed inside three times a day. **

"He's not an animal, either." Isabel snarled.

**They let Harry and Duncan out to use the bathroom morning and evening. Otherwise, they were locked in their room around the clock.**

Maggie indeed paused from the reading after this. Everyone was silent.

Harry and Duncan didn't know what to say to answer the dark looks on everyone's faces.

Dumbledore was sorry greatly of leaving Harry with the Dursleys.

Belloc was now regretting deeply not even _checking _on his son all those years.

Margaret was feeling guilty she hadn't thought about her sister when she was looking for Duncan. She had moved heaven and earth, but she never thought about her sister…never…

** "_What a birthday present."_ Thought Duncan bitterly. **

**Three days later,**

The avalanche of yells and curses were defearing.

"Esos malditos hijos de puta! Los voy a matar, la concha de tu madre!" yelled Isabel in Spanish. Duncan chuckled.

"Ces maudits bâtards sont de la merde!" said Maggie angrily. Duncan and Harry laughed

** the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and the cousins couldn't see any way out of their situation. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking behind the bars on the window and wondered miserably what was going to happen to them. **

**What was the good of magicking themselves out of his room if Hogwarts would expel them for doing it? Yet life at Privet Drive had reached an all-time low. Now that the Dursleys knew they weren't going to wake up as fruit bats, he had lost his only weapon, since Duncan refused to try to make fire.**

"Good, don't waste your energy more." Advised Belloc

** Dobby might have saved Harry and Duncan from horrible happenings at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, they'd probably starve to death anyway. **

"Don't think that." Said Maggie softly.

"Dobby clearly hadn't thought about that." said George in a bitter tone that really did not suit him.

Feeling guilty that they were so upset because of them, Harry and Duncan hoped that everyone would soon forget about what they'd just read.

**The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunia's hand appeared, pushing a bowl of canned soup and other with a bit of meat into the room. Harry and Duncan, whose insides were aching with hunger, jumped off their bed and seized it. The soup was stone-cold, but he drank half of it in one gulp. Duncan finished his meal in two or three bites. **

"That's not a meal" said Poppy angrily

**Then they crossed the room to Hedwig and Finem's cage and tipped soggy vegetables and some pieces of meat at the bottom of the bowl into their empty food tray. They ruffled their feathers and gave him a look of deep disgust. Finem hooted.**

"**It's no good turning your beak up at it — that's all we've got," said Harry grimly. **

"You are half starved and you share it with your owls" said Nico

**They put the empty bowl back on the floor next to the cat-flap and lay back down on the bed, somehow even hungrier than they had been before the soup and the meat. Supposing they were still alive in another four weeks, what would happen if he didn't turn up at Hogwarts? Would someone be sent to see why they hadn't come back? Would they be able to make the Dursleys let him go? **

"Of course!" Professor McGonagall exploded now, "I would come myself and report those Muggles to Social Services at once like they deserve!"

**The room was growing dark. Exhausted, stomach rumbling, mind spinning over the same unanswerable questions, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep. **

**He dreamed that he was on show in a zoo, with a card reading UNDERAGE WIZARD attached to his cage.**

"At least it didn't said "BOY WHO LIVED" said Duncan. Harry laughed

"_Or HALFBREED_" said Harry. Duncan scowled

"_I was dreaming about something similar._" He said.

** People goggled through the bars at him as he lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Dobby's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Dobby called, "Harry Potter is safe there, sir!" and vanished. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley rattled the bars of the cage, laughing at him. **

"**Stop it," Harry muttered as the rattling pounded in his sore head. "Leave me alone… cut it out… I'm trying to sleep…"**

**"Harry…" came Duncan's voice. "I am dreaming, aren't I?"**

"What?!"

**Harry opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And Duncan was staring at someone who _was _goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone. **

**Ron Weasley was outside the Evans's window.**

Cue cheers.

"GO RON!"

"GOOD ONE WEASLEY!"

Duncan, glancing at Remus and Sirius, suddenly had an idea. He whispered it to Hermione and Harry. Hermione spoke first.

"Ms. Bookworm wants to say that what you did was amazing." She said. Remus, Sirius and Margaret perked up, smiles on their faces and Snape had a sour look. Margaret began explaining the meaning to Belloc.

"Mr. Lightning agrees with Ms. Bookworm and asks why you didn't came sooner" said Harry. Ron got it.

"Mr. Weasel apologies to Mr. Lightning and promises he will come to his house whenever he likes"

"Mr. Firebreather likes the idea and invites Mr. Lightning, Weasel and Ms. Bookworm to stay in his house during the holidays."

"Mr. Shapeshifter, father of Mr. Firebreather wants to continue with the story and says: "Shut up!" growled Belloc annoyed

"Mr. Firebreather agrees with Mr. Shapeshifter and asks if we could leave this conversation for another moment."

Remus and Margaret were laughing and Sirius was barking. McGonnagall smiled and picked up the book.

* * *

**I know this sucked, but I have wanted them to have that kind of conversation since the first book, so sorry if you don't like it! R&R, please!**

**Your friend,**

**H.E. B.**


	4. The Burrow

**Sorry it took me so long. Enjoy!**

* * *

"**CHAPTER THREE, The Burrow."** Percy began, before looking around and gulping.

"Do you think maybe someone else can re—"

"Weasley, read." Cornelius interrupted, glaring, and Percy nodded before continuing onwards.

"**Ron." breathed Duncan, creeping to the window and pushing it up so they could talk through the bars. "Ron, how did you —? What the —?" Harry and Duncan's mouth fell open as the full impact of what they were seeing hit them. Ron was leaning out of the back window of an old turquoise car, which was parked _in midair_.**

**"_Bloody cool_" thought Duncan.**

"Bloody brilliant." Nico said in awe, as the twins grinned and Harry and Duncan sniggered alongside Ron.

**Grinning at the Evans from the front seats were Fred and George, Ron's elder twin brothers. **

"Ha! Should have known they'd be there." Kenny said grinning. Fred grinned back and Kenny blushed.

"**All right, guys?" asked George. **

"**What's been going on?" said Ron. "Why haven't you been answering my letters? I've asked you to stay about twelve times, and then Dad came home and said you'd got an official warning for using magic in front of Muggles —" **

"**It wasn't us — and how did he know?" **

"**He works for the Ministry," said Ron. "You _know _we're not supposed to do spells outside school —" **

"Since when did you turn into Hermione?" Ginny teased.

"Shut up." Ron said rolling his eyes, and Hermione huffed, glaring at Ginny.

"**You should talk." chuckled Duncan, staring at the floating car. **

"**Oh, this doesn't count." said Ron. "We're only borrowing this. It's Dad's, _we _didn't enchant it. But doing magic in front of those Muggles you live with —" **

"**I told you, we didn't — but it'll take too long to explain now — look, can you tell them at Hogwarts that the Dursleys have locked me up and won't let me come back, and obviously I can't magic myself out, because the Ministry'll think that's the second spell I've done in three days, so —" **

**"**Harry, think about it…" started Isabel,only to be interrupted be Duncan.

"Wait for it."

**"Harry, they have a bloody flying car. They're not going to leave us here."**

"Obviously" said Maggie.

**Said Duncan. "If you do, I'll be after your blood." He added as an afterthought.**

Belloc chuckled.

"**Duncan's right," said Ron. "We've come to take you home with us." **

"See?"

"**But you can't magic us out either —" **

"**We don't need to." said Ron, jerking his head toward the front seat and grinning. "You forget who I've got with me." **

Fred and George grinned at this, a mischievous glint in their eyes.

"**Tie that around the bars." said Fred, throwing the end of a rope to Harry. **

"**If the Dursleys wake up, we're dead," said Harry as he tied the rope tightly around a bar and Fred revved up the car. **

Everyone could hear growling coming from Sirius and Belloc, and Harry could only grin before laughing at what the look on everyone's faces would be like when they saw the ride to Hogwarts. Ron and Duncan, who were thinking of the same thing, grinned back.

"**Don't worry," said Fred, "and stand back." Harry and Duncan moved back into the shadows next to Hedwig and Finem, who seemed to have realized how important this was and kept still and silent.**

"Smart owls." someone muttered.

**The car revved louder and louder and suddenly, with a crunching noise, the bars were pulled clean out of the window as Fred drove straight up in the air. Harry ran back to the window to see the bars dangling a few feet above the ground. Panting, Ron hoisted them up into the car. Duncan listened anxiously, but there was no sound from the Dursleys' bedroom. **

Yes!" Hermione and Maggie cheered.

"You're lucky the Dursleys or any of the neighbors didn't hear that." Margaret said.

**When the bars were safely in the back seat with Ron, Fred reversed as close as possible to the Evans's window. **

"**Get in." Ron said. **

"**But all our Hogwarts stuff — our wands — our broomsticks —" **

"**Where are they?" **

"**Locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and we can't get out of this room —" **

"**No problem," said George from the front passenger seat. "Out of the way, guys." Fred and George climbed catlike through the window into the cousins' room. _You had to hand it to them_, thought Duncan, as George took an ordinary hairpin from his pocket and started to pick the lock. **

"They're pretty clever." Fillius muttered to Minerva, who nodded in agreement. Molly, who never liked her sons doing this in the first place, was trying very hard not to look angry at her two sons, who were grinning.

"**A lot of wizards think it's a waste of time, knowing this sort of Muggle trick," said Fred, "but we feel they're skills worth learning, even if they are a bit slow." There was a small click and the door swung open. **

"**So — we'll get your trunk — you grab anything you need from your room and hand it out to Ron." whispered George. **

"**Watch out for the bottom stair — it creaks." Harry whispered back as the twins disappeared onto the dark landing. Harry and Duncan dashed around their room, collecting their things and passing them out of the window to Ron. Then they went to help Fred and George heave their trunks up the stairs. Duncan heard Uncle Vernon cough. **

"Uh oh." Maggiemuttered worried. He hoped the Evans's uncle wouldn't wake up, she didn't dare think what he would do to his nephews if he caught them.

**At last, panting, they reached the landing, then carried the trunks through the Evans's room to the open window. Fred climbed back into the car to pull with Ron, and Harry, Duncan and George pushed from the bedroom side. Inch by inch, the trunks slid through the window. Uncle Vernon coughed again. **

**"**Hurry!" Isabel frowned.

"**A bit more." panted Fred, who was pulling from inside the car. "One good push —" **

**Harry, Duncan and George threw their shoulders against the trunk and it slid out of the window into the back seat of the car. **

"**Okay, let's go." George whispered.**

"Don't forget those incredibly smart owls of yours, boys." Belloc whispered, so very into the book, causing everyone else to laugh at him.

**But as Duncan climbed onto the windowsill there came a sudden loud screech from behind him, followed immediately by the thunder of Uncle Vernon's voice. **

"**THOSE RUDDY OWLS!" **

**"I've forgotten Hedwig/Finem!" Harry and Duncan tore back across the room as the landing light clicked on — they snatched up Hedwig and Finem's cages, dashed to the window, and passed them out to Ron. Harry got into the car and Duncan was scrambling back onto the chest of drawers when Uncle Vernon hammered on the unlocked door — and it crashed open.**

"RUN!" shouted a few students.

** For a split second, Uncle Vernon stood framed in the doorway; then he let out a bellow like an angry bull and dived at Duncan, grabbing him by the ankle.**

"Get your hands off my son, you great fat whale!" Belloc shouted.

** Ron, Fred, Harry,and George seized Duncan's arms and pulled as hard as they could. **

"**Petunia!" roared Uncle Vernon. "They're getting away! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!" But the Weasleys gave a gigantic tug, Duncan kicked Vernon hard in the face, and Duncan's leg slid out of Uncle Vernon's grasp.**

"YESSSS!" Ron, Hermione and Maggie cheered.

**— Duncan was in the car — he'd slammed the door shut — **

"**Put your foot down, Fred!" yelled Ron, and the car shot suddenly toward the moon. Harry and Duncan couldn't believe it — they were free.**

Sirius barked, his tail wagging, knowing exactly how that feeling felt, and Harry smiled.

**They rolled down the window, the night air whipping their hair, and looked back at the shrinking rooftops of Privet Drive. Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were all hanging, dumbstruck, out of Harry's window. **

"**See you next summer!" The Evans yelled.**

Everyone laughed at that.

** The Weasleys roared with laughter and Harry and Duncan settled back in his seat, grinning from ear to ear. **

"**Let Hedwig and Finem out." he told Ron. "They can fly behind us. Theyhaven't had a chance to stretch their wings for ages." George handed the hairpin to Ron and, a moment later, Hedwig and Finem soared joyfully out of the window to glide alongside them like a ghost and a shadow. Duncan grinned.**

"I told you they wouldn't leave us. I was right." He said smugly.

"Yeah you were." Said Maggie.

**"Whatever."**

**"No, say it, say it, "Duncan's right." said Duncan, playfully.**

"Stab right to the ego." laughed Isabel.

**"We are a great team." Said Harry grudgingly.**

"No, say it, say it." Said Isabel.

**"No, say "Duncan's right." "Duncan's right."**

"**So — what's the story, guys?" interrupted Ron impatiently. **

"Duncan's right." said Harry smirking.

"FINALLY!" the twins cheered.

**"What's been happening?" Harry told them all about Dobby, the warning he'd given the cousins and the fiasco of the violet pudding. There was a long, shocked silence when he had finished. **

"**Very fishy." said Fred finally. **

"**Definitely dodgy." agreed George. "So he wouldn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?" **

"**I don't think he could." said Duncan. "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall." He saw Fred and George look at each other. **

"**What, you think he was lying to us?" said Duncan. **

"Well, he could've been sent as a joke." Margaret said after thinking about it for a couple of minutes, "But I truly doubt it." She added, after seeing Percy's look of surprise.

"**Well," said Fred, "put it this way — house-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?" **

"**Yes." said Harry, Duncan and Ron together, instantly.**

"Malfoy!" Many people shouted, causing the teen in question to blush.

"**Draco Malfoy." Harry explained. "He hates us." **

"**Draco Malfoy?" said George, turning around. "Not Lucius Malfoy's son?" **

"**Must be, it's not a very common name, is it?" said Duncan. **

"**I've heard Dad talking about him." said George. "He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who." **

"That doesn't surprise me." Nico said glaring. "Low life scum."

"**And when You-Know-Who disappeared," said Fred, craning around to look at the Evans, "Lucius Malfoy came back saying he'd never meant any of it. Load of dung — Dad reckons he was right in You- Know-Who's inner circle."**

"Because he is." Harry muttered.

**Harry had heard these rumors about Malfoy's family before, and they didn't surprise him at all. Malfoy made Dudley Dursley look like a kind, thoughtful, and sensitive boy… **

"DRACO MALFOY!" Narcissa shouted while said Malfoy flinched and tried to move away, unsuccessfully so.

**I don't know whether the Malfoys own a house-elf…" said Harry.**

"They probably do, as most rich, noble houses do." Nico said, glaring lightly.

"**Well, whoever owns him will be an old wizarding family, and they'll be rich." said Fred. **

"**Yeah, Mum's always wishing we had a house-elf to do the ironing." said George. "But all we've got is a lousy old ghoul in the attic and gnomes all over the garden. House-elves come with big old manors and castles and places like that; you wouldn't catch one in our house…" Duncan was silent. Judging by the fact that Draco Malfoy usually had the best of everything, his family was rolling in wizard gold; he could just see Malfoy strutting around a large manor house. Sending the family servant to stop the Evans from going back to Hogwarts also sounded exactly like the sort of thing Malfoy would do. Had they been stupid to take Dobby seriously? **

"Not at all, Duncan." Maggie said smiling.

"**I'm glad we came to get you, anyway." said Ron. "I was getting really worried when you didn't answer any of my letters. I thought it was Errol's fault at first —" **

"**Who's Errol?" **

"**Our owl. He's ancient. It wouldn't be the first time he'd collapsed on a delivery. So then I tried to borrow Hermes —" **

"**_Who_****?" asked Duncan.**

"**The owl Mum and Dad bought Percy when he was made prefect." said Fred from the front. **

"The messenger god, good name." said Belloc approvingly.

"**But Percy wouldn't lend him to me." said Ron. "Said he needed him." **

"**Percy's been acting very oddly this summer." said George, frowning. "And he _has _been sending a lot of letters and spending a load of time shut up in his room… I mean, there's only so many times you can polish a prefect badge… You're driving too far west, Fred." he added, pointing at a compass on the dashboard. Fred twiddled the steering wheel. **

"Maybe Prefect Percy has a girlfriend!" Kenny laughed, clapping his hands as Percy blushed and stuttered before continuing.

"**So, does your dad know you've got the car?" said Harry, guessing the answer. **

"**Er, no." said Ron, "He had to work tonight. Hopefully we'll be able to get it back in the garage without Mum noticing we flew it." **

"Doubt it, mate."

"**What does your dad do at the Ministry of Magic, anyway?" **

"**He works in the most boring department." said Ron. "The Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office." **

Arthur frowned at his son's words before shaking his head. He supposed that for his family, his work did seem boring, but to him, it was absolutely perfect.

"**The _what_?" Asked Duncan once more.**

**"**You ever stop asking questions?" asked Isabel, not used to that side of his friend.

**"Sometimes." Duncan smiled shyly while Harry snorted.**

"**It's all to do with bewitching things that are Muggle-made, you know, in case they end up back in a Muggle shop or house. Like, last year, some old witch died and her tea set was sold to an antiques shop. This Muggle woman bought it, took it home, and tried to serve her friends tea in it. It was a nightmare — Dad was working overtime for weeks." **

"**What happened?" said Harry quickly before Duncan could open his mouth.**

Some sniggered.

"**The teapot went berserk and squirted boiling tea all over the place and one man ended up in the hospital with the sugar tongs clamped to his nose. Dad was going frantic — it's only him and an old warlock called Perkins in the office — and they had to do Memory Charms and all sorts of stuff to cover it up —" **

"**But your dad — this car —" **

**Fred laughed. "Yeah, Dad's crazy about everything to do with Muggles; our shed's full of Muggle stuff. He takes it apart, puts spells on it, and puts it back together again. If he raided _our _house he'd have to put himself under arrest. It drives Mum mad."**

Many people snorted and Cornelius was about to interrupt Percy when, one look from Albus and Belloc, stopped himself from doing so.

"**That's the main road." said George, peering down through the windshield. "We'll be there in ten minutes… Just as well, it's getting light…"A faint pinkish glow was visible along the horizon to the east. Fred brought the car lower, and Harry saw a dark patchwork of fields and clumps of trees. **

"**We're a little way outside the village." said George. "Ottery St. Catchpole." Lower and lower went the flying car. The edge of a brilliant red sun was now gleaming through the trees. **

"**Touchdown!" said Fred as, with a slight bump, they hit the ground. They had landed next to a tumbledown garage in a small yard, and Harry and Duncan looked out for the first time at Ron's house. It looked as though it had once been a large stone pigpen, but extra rooms had been added here and there until it was several stories high and so crooked it looked as though it were held up by magic (which Harry reminded himself, it probably was). Four or five chimneys were perched on top of the red roof. A lopsided sign stuck in the ground near the entrance read, THE BURROW. Around the front door lay a jumble of rubber boots and a very rusty cauldron. Several fat brown chickens were pecking their way around the yard.**

Malfoy Senior and Junior looked smug. Belloc Senior and Junior glared at them, noticing the slight blush in Arthur and Ron.

"**It's not much," said Ron. **

"**It's_wonderful_." said Duncan happily, thinking of Privet Drive. They got out of the car. **

"**Now, we'll go upstairs really quietly," said Fred, "and wait for Mum to call us for breakfast. Then, Ron, you come bounding downstairs going, 'Mum, look who turned up in the night!' and she'll be all pleased to see Harry and no one need ever know we flew the car."**

**"**_That_ was your plan? Seriously?" said Belloc. Sirius barked.

**"I don't think that's going to work." Said Duncan staring at the house.**

"You saw Mum?" whispered Ron.

"Yep."

"**It will work." said Ron. "Come on, guys, I sleep at the — at the top —" Ron had gone a nasty greenish color, his eyes fixed on the house.**

"And here enters Molly." Margaret laughed.

**The other four wheeled around. Mrs. Weasley was marching across the yard, scattering chickens, and for a short, plump, kind-faced woman, it was remarkable how much she looked like a saber-toothed tiger. **

Molly blushed at her description.

"**_Ah_****."said Fred. **

"**Oh, dear." said George. **

"Couldn't have said better myself." Said Ron.

**Mrs. Weasley came to a halt in front of them, her hands on her hips, staring from one guilty face to the next. She was wearing a flowered apron with a wand sticking out of the pocket. **

"**_So_****." she said. **

"You are in so much trouble." Laughed Duncan.

"**Morning, Mum." said George, in what he clearly thought was a jaunty, winning voice. **

"That's just going to make her madder." Ginny said shaking her head.

"**Have you any idea how worried I've been?" said Mrs. Weasley in a deadly whisper. **

"**Sorry, Mum, but see, we had to —" **

**All three of Mrs. Weasley's sons were taller than she was, but they cowered as her rage broke over them. **

"Kind like you when I get mad." said Margaret.

"Well, you are scarier than Mrs. Weasley. And, your tactic is different." Said Duncan matter-of-factly.

"**Beds empty! No note! Car gone — could have crashed — out of my mind with worry — did you care? — never, as long as I've lived — you wait until your father gets home, we never had trouble like this from Bill or Charlie or Percy —" **

"**Perfect Percy," muttered Fred. **

"Not so perfect anymore, though." Muttered George, rolling his eyes.

"**YOU COULD DO WITH TAKING A LEAF OUT OF PERCY'S BOOK!" yelled Mrs. Weasley, prodding a finger in Fred's chest. "You could have _died_, you could have been _seen_, you could have lost your father his _job _—" It seemed to go on for hours. Mrs. Weasley had shouted herself hoarse before she turned on the cousins, who backed away. **

"Oh, dears, no—" Molly started but was interrupting by Belloc snorting. Molly glared at the Kaiju and was about to yell, but stopped herself, causing Maggie to look on in interest.

"**I'm very pleased to see you, dears." she said. "Come in and have some breakfast."**

Cue shocked looks.

**She turned and walked back into the house. Duncan, after a bewildered look at his friends and cousin, followed her. **

"Is she bipolar?" asked Kenny to Fred in a whisper. Fred snorted.

**The kitchen was small and rather cramped. There was a scrubbed wooden table and chairs in the middle, and the Evans sat down on the edge of their seats, looking around. They had never been in a wizards house before. The clock on the wall opposite him had only one hand and no numbers at all. Written around the edge were things like _Time to make tea, Time to feed the chickens_, and _You're late_.**

"Oh my god, I want a clock like that." Said Margaret.

** Books were stacked three deep on the mantelpiece, books with titles like _Charm Your Own Cheese, Enchantment in Baking, and One Minute Feasts _— _It's Magic! _**

**And unless Harry's ears were deceiving him, the old radio next to the sink had just announced that coming up was "Witching Hour, with the popular singing sorceress, Celestina Warbeck." **

**Mrs. Weasley was clattering around, cooking breakfast a little haphazardly, throwing dirty looks at her sons as she threw sausages into the frying pan. Every now and then she muttered things like "don't know _what _you were thinking of," and "_never _would have believed it." **

**"Sorry, but they were worried." protested Duncan weakly. "I would have done the same." Whispered Duncan to Harry.**

"Thanks for defending us, Firebreather." smiled George.

"**I don't blame _you_, dear." she assured the Evans, tipping eight or nine sausages onto his plate. **

"He might not get fed a lot at my sister's, but that's still a _little_much." Margaret said, wrinkling her nose.

"**Arthur and I have been worried about you, too. Just last night we were saying we'd come and get you ourselves if you hadn't written back to Ron by Friday. But really," (she was now adding three fried eggs to his plate) "flying an illegal car halfway across the country — anyone could have seen you —" She flicked her wand casually at the dishes in the sink, which began to clean themselves, clinking gently in the background. **

"I thought it was pretty bloody wicked and cool." Harry mumbled, grinning at the twins, who grinned back.

"**It was _cloudy_, Mum!" said Fred. **

"**You keep your mouth closed while you're eating!" Mrs. Weasley snapped. **

"**They were starving them, Mum!" said George. **

"**And you!" said Mrs. Weasley, but it was with a slightly softened expression that she started cutting Harry bread and buttering it for him. **

"He's not a baby." Belloc muttered, narrowing his eyes.

**At that moment there was a diversion in the form of a small, redheaded figure in a long nightdress, who appeared in the kitchen. Duncan gave her a small smile, but she gave a small squeal, and ran out again. **

"And your bad luck with girls begins!" Isabel said.

_"I wouldn't think so_." Duncan thought looking at Maggie.

**Duncan looked at Ron, puzzled.**

"**Ginny," said Ron in an undertone to Duncan. "My sister. She's been talking about Harry all summer." **

"Ron!" Ginny yelled glaring at him.

"**Yeah, she'll be wanting your autograph, Harry." Fred said with a grin.**

Margaret tilted her head slightly. Belloc, having seen her do so, leaned over.

"She has a crush," He sang, jokingly.

"Yes, but how much of it is for Harry, and how much is for the Boy Who Lived?" Margaret questioned, arching her eyebrow as Belloc nodded in agreement.

**But he then caught his mother's eye and bent his face over his plate without another word. Nothing more was said until all four plates were clean, which took a surprisingly short time. **

"**_Blimey_****, I'm tired." yawned Fred, setting down his knife and fork at last. "I think I'll go to bed and —"**

"**You will not," snapped Mrs. Weasley. "It's your own fault you've been up all night. You're going to de-gnome the garden for me; they're getting completely out of hand again —" **

"**Oh, Mum —" **

"**And you two," she said, glaring at Ron and Fred. "You can go up to bed, dears." she added to Harry and Duncan. "You didn't ask them to fly that wretched car —"**

**"_I am glad that they did it_." Thought Duncan.**

"Again: thanks."

** Harry, who felt wide awake, said quickly, "I'll help Ron. I've never seen a de-gnoming —" said him while Duncan nodded.**

"**That's very sweet of you, dear, but it's dull work." said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, let's see what Lockhart's got to say on the subject —"**

The Evans groaned.

"What?" Belloc asked.

"You'll see." Harry said grimacing.

** And she pulled a heavy book from the stack on the mantelpiece. George groaned. **

Nearly the whole great hall also groaned, clearly remembering the horrible defense teacher they had, who knew nothing of the topic he taught.

"**Mum, we know how to de-gnome a garden —" Harry looked at the cover of Mrs. Weasley's book. Written across it in fancy gold letters were the words _Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests_. There was a big photograph on the front of a very good-looking wizard with wavy blond hair and bright blue eyes. As always in the wizarding world, the photograph was moving; the wizard, who Harry supposed was Gilderoy Lockhart, kept winking cheekily up at them all. **

**"Ewww." Whispered Duncan to Harry, who chuckled.**

"Agreed." said the males in the Hall.

**Mrs. Weasley beamed down at him. **

"**Oh, he is marvelous." she said. "He knows his household pests, all right, it's a wonderful book…" **

"**Mum _fancies _him." said Fred, in a very audible whisper.**

"Many girls fancied him." Said Duncan.

"**Don't be so ridiculous, Fred," said Mrs. Weasley, her cheeks rather pink. "All right, if you think you know better than Lockhart, you can go and get on with it, and woe betide you if there's a single gnome in that garden when I come out to inspect it." Yawning and grumbling, the Weasleys slouched outside with Harry and Duncan behind them. The garden was large, and in Duncan's eyes, exactly what a garden should be. The Dursleys wouldn't have liked it — there were plenty of weeds, and the grass needed cutting — but there were gnarled trees all around the walls, plants Harry had never seen spilling from every flower bed, and a big green pond full of frogs. **

"Sounds nice." said Margaret smiling.

"**Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know." Harry told Ron they crossed the lawn. **

"**Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods…" There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered, and Ron straightened up. "_This _is a gnome." he said grimly. **

"**Gerroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome. It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus. It was small and leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like a potato. **

"Guys, I love your descriptions." Said George.

**Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside down. **

"**This is what you have to do." he said. He raised the gnome above his head ("Gerroff me!") and started to swing it in great circles like a lasso.**

Isabel looked shocked.

**Seeing the shocked look on their friends's face,Ron added, "It doesn't _hurt _them —you've just got to make them really dizzy so they can't find their way back to the gnome holes." **

**He let go of the gnome's ankles: It flew twenty feet into the air and landed with a thud in the field over the hedge. **

"**Pitiful," said Fred. "I bet I can get mine beyond that stump." Harry learned quickly not to feel too sorry for the gnomes. **

"I got mine at forty feet, and James had his at forty five." Remus said, beaming.

**Duncan decided just to drop the first one he caught over the hedge, but the gnome, sensing weakness, sank its razor-sharp teeth into His finger and he had a hard job shaking it off — until — **

"**Wow, Duncan — that must've been fifty feet…"**

"Good." said Maggie.

** The air was soon thick with flying gnomes. **

"**See, they're not too bright." said George, seizing five or six gnomes at once. "The moment they know the de-gnoming's going on they storm up to have a look. You'd think they'd have learned by now just to stay put." **

**Soon, the crowd of gnomes in the field started walking away in a straggling line, their little shoulders hunched. **

"**They'll be back." said Ron as they watched the gnomes disappear into the hedge on the other side of the field. "They love it here… Dad's too soft with them; he thinks they're funny…" **

**Just then, the front door slammed. **

"**He's back!" said George. "Dad's home!"**

Arthur waited for his description.

** They hurried through the garden and back into the house. Mr. Weasley was slumped in a kitchen chair with his glasses off and his eyes closed. He was a thin man, going bald, but the little hair he had was as red as any of his children's. He was wearing long green robes, which were dusty and travel-worn.**

Arthur touched his hair a bit.

"**What a night," he mumbled, groping for the teapot as they all sat down around him. **

"**Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned…" Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed. **

Many of the order either laughed or rolled their eyes.

"**Find anything, Dad?" said Fred eagerly.**

"**All I got were a few shrinking door keys and a biting kettle." yawned Mr. Weasley. **

"**There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely odd ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank goodness…" **

"**Why would anyone bother making door keys shrink?" said George. **

"**Just Muggle-baiting." sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it... Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking — they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face… But the things our lot have taken to enchanting, you wouldn't believe —" **

"**LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?" Mrs. Weasley had appeared, holding a long poker like a sword. Mr. Weasley's eyes jerked open. He stared guiltily at his wife.**

"Glad to know you, Arthur." said Belloc smirking.

"**C-cars, Molly, dear?" **

"**Yes, Arthur, cars," said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes flashing. "Imagine a wizard buying a rusty old car and telling his wife all he wanted to do with it was take it apart to see how it worked, while _really _he was enchanting it to make it _fly_." Mr. Weasley blinked. **

"**Well, dear, I think you'll find that he would be quite within the law to do that, even if — er — he maybe would have done better to, um, tell his wife the truth… There's a loophole in the law, you'll find… As long as he wasn't _intending _to fly the car, the fact that the car _could _fly wouldn't —" **

"**Arthur Weasley, you made sure there was a loophole when you wrote that law!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Just so you could carry on tinkering with all that Muggle rubbish in your shed! And for your information, Harry and Duncan arrived this morning in the car you weren't intending to fly!" **

"**Harry and Duncan?" said Mr. Weasley blankly. "Who?" He looked around, saw the Evans, and jumped. **

"**Good lord, is it Harry and Duncan Evans? Very pleased to meet you, Ron's told us so much about —" **

"**_Your sons flew that car to their house and back last night!" _****shouted Mrs. Weasley. "What have you got to say about that, eh?" **

"**Did you really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Did it go all right? I — I mean," he faltered as sparks flew from Mrs. Weasley's eyes, "that — that was very wrong, boys — very wrong indeed…" **

The Great Hall burst into laughter at Arthurs' sentence, and how quickly he backtracked, while Arthur grinned and blushed at the same time.

"**Let's leave them to it." Ron muttered to Harry and Duncan as Mrs. Weasley swelled like a bullfrog. "Come on, I'll show you my bedroom." **

"Great escape plan." Nico said laughing.

**They slipped out of the kitchen and down a narrow passageway to an uneven staircase, which wound its way, zigzagging up through the house. On the third landing, a door stood ajar. Duncan just caught sight of a pair of bright brown eyes staring at him before it closed with a snap.**

Ginny blushed red again, hiding her face in her hands.

"**Ginny." said Ron. "You don't know how weird it is for her to be this shy. She never shuts up normally —" They climbed two more flights until they reached a door with peeling paint and a small plaque on it, saying RONALD'S ROOM. **

**The cousins stepped in, Harry's head almost touching the sloping ceiling, and blinked. It was like walking into a furnace.**

"WTF?" asked Kass, receiving a smack in the head with a book, courtesy of Rosezelene.

** Nearly everything in Ron's room seemed to be a violent shade of orange: the bedspread, the walls, even the ceiling. Then they realized that Ron had covered nearly every inch of the shabby wallpaper with posters of the same seven witches and wizards, all wearing bright orange robes, carrying broomsticks, and waving energetically. **

"**Your Quidditch team?" said Harry. **

"**The Chudley Cannons," said Ron, pointing at the orange bedspread, which was emblazoned with two giant black C's and a speeding cannonball. "Ninth in the league."**

"Ron, you could do so much better." said Angelina.

**Ron's school spellbooks were stacked untidily in a corner, next to a pile of comics that all seemed to feature _The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle. _Ron's magic wand was lying on top of a fish tank full of frog spawn on the windowsill, next to his fat gray rat, Scabbers, who was snoozing in a patch of sun. **

Sirius could be heard growling, Remus had tensed and Harry and Duncan started calming the dog, while Belloc and Margaret looked on in confusion. Ron, who had a distinct look of disgust on his face, was shocked out of it by Percy speaking.

"Whatever happened to Scabbers, Ronald?"

"You'll find out next year, Percy."

**Duncan stepped over a pack of Self-Shuffling playing cards on the floor and looked out of the tiny window. In the field far below he could see a gang of gnomes sneaking one by one back through the Weasleys' hedge. Then he turned to look at Ron, who was watching him and Harry almost nervously, as though waiting for his opinion. **

"**It's a bit small." said Ron quickly. "Not like that room you had with the Muggles.**

"More like prison." said Duncan.

** And I'm right underneath the ghoul in the attic; he's always banging on the pipes and groaning…" **

**But Harry and Duncan, grinning widely, said, "This is the best house I've ever been in." **

**Ron's ears went pink.**

Percy closed the book.

"Who wants to read next?"

* * *

**Review! Suggestions welcomed!**

**I'll always be,**

**H. E. B.**


	5. At Flourish and Blotts

**Here is another! Review!**

* * *

"**At Flourish And Blotts," **Arthur read, grinning.

**Life at the Burrow was as different as possible from life on Privet Drive. The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys' house burst with the strange and unexpected. Duncan got a shock the first time he looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, "_Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!"_**

The Great Hall burst into laughter at this, as Duncan hid his face into Sirius' fur, his face turning very red.

**The ghoul in the attic howled and dropped pipes whenever he felt things were getting too quiet, and small explosions from Fred and George's bedroom were considered perfectly normal. **

Kenny quirked an eyebrow at the twins, who could only grin and shrug.

**What the Evans found most unusual about life at Ron's, however, wasn't the talking mirror or the clanking ghoul: It was the fact that everybody there seemed to like them.**

Everyone was saddened by this, to think that people being nice to them was such a rarity.

"Oh boys," Margaret said tearing up.

**Mrs. Weasley fussed over the state of his socks and tried to force him to eat fourth helpings at every meal. **

_That would be annoying_. Both Belloc and Margaret thought, without hearing Harry and Duncan mumble those exact words.

**Mr. Weasley liked Harry or Duncan to sit next to him at the dinner table so that he could bombard him with questions about life with Muggles, asking him to explain how things like plugs and the postal service worked.**

"**_Fascinating!"_**** he would say as Harry talked him through using a telephone. "Ingenious, really, how many ways Muggles have found of getting along without magic."**

"Seems like you haven't changed with the years, Arthur." smirked Margaret.

**The Evans heard from Hogwarts one sunny morning about a week after they had arrived at the Burrow. They and Ron went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table. The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. **

Kenny, Fred, George and Nico all started to snicker, but stopped when Maggie, Isabel and Hermione glared at them.

"Knock it off, you're being rude." Isabel said angrily and Ginny, who was blushing, smiled at her.

**Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room. She dived under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. Pretending they hadn't noticed this, Harry and Duncan sat down and took the toast Mrs. Weasley offered him.**

Belloc snorted loudly, shaking his head as his wife giggled.

"**Letters from school," said Mr. Weasley, passing Harry, Duncan and Ron identical envelopes of yellowish parchment, addressed in green ink. "Dumbledore already knows you're here, Harry, Duncan - doesn't miss a trick, that man. You two've got them, too." he added, as Fred and George ambled in, still in their pajamas. **

"Of course he doesn't miss anything, he's Dumbledore." Grace said chuckling.

**For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. Harry and Duncan's told him to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September first. There was also a list of the new books he'd need for the coming year.**

**_Second-Year Students Will Require:_**

**_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk_**

**_Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

**_Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

**_Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

**_Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

**_Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

**_Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

**_Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart_**

"That's a lot of books by Gilderoy Lockhart." Jenna said raising an eyebrow.

**Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at Harry's.**

"**You've been told to get all Lockhart's books, too!" he said. "The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan - bet it's a witch."**

**At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade.**

"**That lot won't come cheap." said George, with a quick look at his parents. "Lockhart's books are really expensive…."**

"**Well, we'll manage." said Mrs. Weasley, but she looked worried. "I expect we'll be able to pick up a lot of Ginny's things secondhand."**

"**Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year?" Harry asked Ginny.**

**She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish.**

"Girl, you need to—" Jenna gasped, trying to finish, but couldn't do to her laughter. Ginny had smiled and blushed, thinking that Jenna was complimenting her, which just caused Jenna to gasp even more than before, Dean snorted, and Sirius barked, while Remus let out a small smile.

**Fortunately no one saw this except Harry and Duncan, because just then Ron's elder brother Percy walked in. He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his sweater vest.**

"Oh brother." Nico muttered rolling his eyes.

"**Morning, all," said Percy briskly. "Lovely day."**

**He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a molting, gray feather duster - at least, that was what Harry thought it was, until he saw that it was breathing. **

"Poor old Errol." Ginny said.

"**Errol!" said Ron, taking the limp owl from Percy and extracting a letter from under its wing. "Finally— he's got Hermione's answer. I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys."**

"I was so relieved to hear that. I was getting so worried about you." Hermione said and Duncan smiled at her.

**He carried Errol to a perch just inside the back door and tried to stand him on it, but Errol flopped straight off again so Ron lay him on the draining board instead, muttering, "Pathetic." Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read it out loud: **

"**_Dear Ron, Harry and Duncan if you're there,_**

"**_'I hope everything went all right and that Harry and Duncan are okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get them out, Ron, because that would get them into trouble, too. I've been really worried and if Harry and Duncan are all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl because I think another delivery might finish your one off. _**

"**_I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course'_****- How _can_ she be?" said Ron in horror. "We're on holiday! -**

"You still get homework on holiday." Remus said.

**_'and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? Let me know what's happening as soon as you can. _**

**_Love from Hermione."_**

"**Well, that fits in nicely, we can go and get all your things then, too," said Mrs. Weasley, starting to clear the table. "What're you all up to today?"**

**Harry, Duncan, Ron, Fred, and George were planning to go up the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of the village below, meaning that they could practice Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high. **

"Yes! Quidditch!" Nico cheered until he saw Grace's impatient face and quickly said, "Anyway, back to the story."

Everyone snickered at him.

**They couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village; instead they threw apples for one another to catch. They took turns riding the Evans's Nimbus Two Thousands, which was easily the best brooms; Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies. **

**Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. They had asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he was busy. Harry and Duncan had only seen Percy at mealtimes so far; he stayed shut in his room the rest of the time. **

"**Wish I knew what he was up to." said Fred, frowning. "He's not himself. His exam results came the day before you did; twelve O.W.L.s and he hardly gloated at all."**

"That is weird." Isabel said. "He does seem the type to gloat." Percy glared and Harry growled, making Percy look away.

**"Twelve what?" No reason to say who asked this.**

Duncan blushed and hid his face in Maggie's hair, which caused her to stop snickering and freeze. A moment later, having realized what he had just done, Duncan muttered an apology, his face more red than the Weasleys hair.

**Ordinary Wizarding Levels," George explained, seeing Duncan's puzzled look. "Bill got twelve, too. If we're not careful, we'll have another Head Boy in the family. I don't think I could stand the shame." **

Kenny snorted while shaking his head and Harry bit his lip, remembering how badly he wanted to be a prefect this past year. Would the twins judge him for that?

"_Harry, CALM DOWN. You are giving me a headache_." Said Duncan.

**Bill was the oldest Weasley brother. He and the next brother, Charlie, had already left Hogwarts. The Evans had never met either of them, but knew that Charlie was in Romania studying dragons and Bill in Egypt working for the wizard's bank, Gringotts. **

"Bloody cool." Said Nico and Kenny.

"**Dunno how Mum and Dad are going to afford all our school stuff this year." said George after a while. "Five sets of Lockhart books! And Ginny needs robes and a wand and everything…."**

**Harry said nothing. He felt a bit awkward.**

"Mate, It's fine—"

"We know you've got money—"

"And we don't care—" The twins stated, but Harry could only shrug. Duncan started feeling tense, he was WAY richer than the Malfoys, or any Most Ancient family. Would the Weasleys judge him?

"_What I am thinking? I am a bloody halfbreed and I'm worrying about the bloody money!_"

**Stored in an underground vault at Gringotts in London was a small fortune that his parents had left him. Of course, it was only in the wizarding world that he had money; you couldn't use Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts in Muggle shops. He had never mentioned his Gringotts bank account to the Dursleys; he didn't think their horror of anything connected with magic would stretch to a large pile of gold. Duncan elbowed him in the ribs, sure about what was he thinking.**

**Mrs. Weasley woke them all early the following Wednesday. After a quick half a dozen bacon sandwiches each, they pulled on their coats and Mrs. Weasley took a flowerpot off the kitchen mantelpiece and peered inside. **

"**We're running low, Arthur." she sighed. "We'll have to buy some more today… Ah well, guests first! After you, Harry dear!"**

**And she offered him the flowerpot.**

**Harry stared at them all watching him. Duncan raised an eyebrow.**

"Oh, that's right, you've never used the Floo Network before, have you?" Remus said.

"Nope, that was my first time." Harry said.

"**W-what am I supposed to do?" he stammered.**

"**They never traveled by Floo powder." said Ron suddenly. "Sorry, guys, I forgot."**

"Ehh, that's something easy to forget." Fred said shrugging. "You're so used to doing it that you forget that some people might not know how."

"**Never?" said Mr. Weasley. "But how did you get to Diagon Alley to buy your school things last year?"**

"**I went on the Underground -"**

"**Really?" said Mr. Weasley eagerly. "Were there _escapators?_ How exactly -"**

"Escapators?" Kenny asked.

"I think he means escalators." Maggie snorted.

"Oh." Kenny said nodding.

"**Not _now,_ Arthur," said Mrs. Weasley. "Floo powder's a lot quicker, dear, but goodness me, if you've never used it before -"**

"**They'll be all right, Mum." said Fred. "Harry, Duncan, watch us first."**

**He took a pinch of glittering powder out of the flowerpot, stepped up to the fire, and threw the powder into the flames.**

**With a roar, the fire turned emerald green and rose higher than Fred, who stepped right into it, shouted, "Diagon Alley!" and vanished.**

"I hate traveling by Floo powder." Duncan said grimacing.

"**You must speak clearly, dear," Mrs. Weasley told Harry and Duncan as George dipped his hand into the flowerpot. "And be sure to get out at the right grate…."**

"**The right what?" said Harry nervously as the fire roared and whipped George out of sight, too.**

"**Well, there are an awful lot of wizard fires to choose from, you know, but as long as you've spoken clearly -"**

"**They'll be fine, Molly, don't fuss." said Mr. Weasley, helping himself to Floo powder, too.**

"**But, dear, if they got lost, how would we ever explain to their aunt and uncle?"**

"They would properly be happy if they got lost." Belloc snarled angrily.

"**They wouldn't mind." Duncan reassured her. "Dudley would think it was a brilliant joke if I got lost up a chimney, don't worry about that -"**

"Bloody Dursleys." Maggie muttered angrily.

"**Well… all right… you go after Arthur." said Mrs. Weasley. "Now, when you get into the fire, say where you're going -"**

"**And keep your elbows tucked in." Ron advised. **

"**And your eyes shut." said Mrs. Weasley. "The soot -"**

"**Don't fidget," said Ron. "Or you might well fall out of the wrong fireplace -"**

"**But don't panic and get out too early; wait until you see Fred and George."**

"You should also take your glasses off." Arthur said. "They always break if you wear them."

**Trying hard to bear all this in mind, Harry took a pinch of Floo powder and walked to the edge of the fire. He took a deep breath, scattered the powder into the flames, and stepped forward; the fire felt like a warm breeze; he opened his mouth and immediately swallowed a lot of hot ash.**

"**D-Dia-gon Alley," he coughed.**

"Oh no." Izzy said nervously.

**Duncan saw Harry disappear and he took a bit of the powder. He entered and sniffed.**

**"Diagonally." He said.**

Every eye was on Duncan.

"Diagonally?" snorted Belloc in disbelief.

"Really Duncan?" chuckled Maggie.

"I was twelve years old and very confused!"

**It felt as though he was being sucked down a giant drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast - the roaring in his ears was deafening - he tried to keep his eyes open but the whirl of green flames made him feel sick - something hard knocked his elbow and he tucked it in tightly, still spinning and spinning - now it felt as though cold hands were slapping his face - squinting he saw a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the rooms beyond - his bacon sandwiches were churning inside him - he closed his eyes again wishing it would stop, and then -**

**He fell, face forward, onto cold stone and felt his nose touch the ground.**

**Dizzy and bruised, covered in soot, he got gingerly to his feet.**

**"Dunc?" he heard Harry's voice.**

"What the-?" some people said incredulously.

**"Harr." he whispered back, seeing his cousin with his broken glasses in his hand. Duncan almost snorted, of all the places they could have ended up, and they both landed in the same wrong place.**

"Oh the sweet irony." said Duncan.

** They were quite alone, but **_**where**_**they were, they had no idea. All they could tell was that he was standing in the stone fireplace of what looked like a large, dimly lit wizard's shop - but nothing in here was ever likely to be on a Hogwarts school list.**

**A glass case nearby held a withered hand on a cushion, a bloodstained pack of cards, and a staring glass eye. **

Sirius whimpered, knowing immediately where his godsons were, Remus sighed, Margaret looked worried and Lucius and Draco paled.

**Evil-looking masks stared down from the walls, an assortment of human bones lay upon the counter, and rusty, spiked instruments hung from the ceiling. **

"Cool." The twins murmured, staring at the book in fascination.

**Even worse, the dark, narrow street Harry could see through the dusty shop window was definitely not Diagon Alley. **

**The sooner they got out of here, the better. While Duncans' nose was still stinging where it had hit the hearth, Harry and Duncan made their way swiftly and silently toward the door, but before They had gotten halfway toward it, two people appeared on the other side of the glass - and one of them was the very last person Harry and Duncan wanted to meet when they were lost, covered in soot, and wearing broken glasses: Draco Malfoy. **

"Oh man, it just gets worse." Belloc groaned. "Why can't you have a normal day for once?"

"Tell us about it." Harry said sighing.

**Harry and Duncan looked quickly around and spotted a large black cabinet to his left; they shot inside it and pulled the doors closed, leaving a small crack to peer through. Seconds later, a bell clanged, and Malfoy stepped into the shop.**

**The man who followed could only be Draco's father. He had the same pale, pointed face and identical cold, gray eyes. **

"And he just as horrible as his son, if not worse." Nico said scowling.

**Mr. Malfoy crossed the shop, looking lazily at the items on display, and rang a bell on the counter before turning to his son and saying, "Touch nothing, Draco."**

**Malfoy, who had reached for the glass eye, said, "I thought you were going to buy me a present."**

"Brat." Ginny muttered.

"Sounds like Dudley." Neville murmured, many laughing in response.

"**I said I would buy you a racing broom." said his father, drumming his fingers on the counter. **

"**What's the good of that if I'm not on the House team?" said Malfoy, looking sulky and bad-tempered.**

Draco paled even more.

**"Harry Potter got a Nimbus Two Thousand last year. Special permission from Dumbledore so he could play for Gryffindor. He's not even that good, it's just because he's _famous_… famous for having a stupid _scar_ on his forehead…."**

"It is not because he's _famous_, Malfoy. It's because he's a bloody brilliant player." Surprisingly, not Minerva snarled, but Charlie, wanting to defend the honorary Weasley to all but Percy. Draco paled at this, and Harry snarled.

"Like I wanted to be famous for having a stupid scar on my forehead." Snape rolled his eyes at Potter's words, not believing a word of them.

**"Someone is jealous." sang Duncan under his breath, making Harry snigger.**

Some people sniggered and some others imitated Duncan.

**Malfoy bent down to examine a shelf full of skulls. **

**"**… **everyone thinks he's so _smart_, wonderful _Potter_ with his _scar_ and his _broomstick_ -"**

**"****You have told me this at least a dozen times already." said Mr. Malfoy, with a quelling look at his son. "And I would remind you that it is not - prudent - to appear less than fond of Harry Potter, not when most of our kind regard him as the hero who made the Dark Lord disappear - ah, Mr. Borgin."**

Many people snorted at this, not only because of the fact that Draco was apparently jealous – which just caused him to pale even more, so that he looked like a vampire – but that Malfoy basically admitted his beliefs in that one sentence alone.

**A stooping man had appeared behind the counter, smoothing his greasy hair back from his face.**

"**Mr. Malfoy, what a pleasure to see you again." said Mr. Borgin in a voice as oily as his hair. "Delighted - and young Master Malfoy, too - charmed. How may I be of assistance? I must show you, just in today, and very reasonably priced -"**

"**I'm not buying today, Mr. Borgin, but selling." said Mr. Malfoy.**

"**Selling?" The smile faded slightly from Mr. Borgin's face. **

"**You have heard, of course, that the Ministry is conducting more raids." said Mr. Malfoy, taking a roll of parchment from his inside pocket and unraveling it for Mr. Borgin to read. "I have a few - ah - items at home that might embarrass me, if the Ministry were to call…."**

"Yeah right, it would do more than embarrass him, he'd probably get thrown into Azkaban." Seamus said.

**Mr. Borgin fixed a pair of pince-nez to his nose and looked down the list.**

"**The Ministry wouldn't presume to trouble you, sir, surely?"**

"Not with all the money he gives them." Ron said darkly.

**Mr. Malfoy's lip curled.**

"**I have not been visited yet. The name Malfoy still commands a certain respect, yet the Ministry grows ever more meddlesome. There are rumors about a new Muggle Protection Act - no doubt that flea-bitten, Muggle-loving fool Arthur Weasley is behind it -"**

All of the Weasley's growled in the direction of the Malfoy's, wands clenched in their hands in anger.

**The Evans felt a hot surge of anger. **

"Good, guys." said George, still glaring.

"**- and as you see, certain of these poisons might make it _appear_ -"**

"**I understand, sir, of course." said Mr. Borgin. "Let me see…."**

"**Can I have _that_?" interrupted Draco, pointing at the withered hand on its cushion.**

"**Ah, the Hand of Glory!" said Mr. Borgin, abandoning Mr. Malfoy's list and scurrying over to Draco. "Insert a candle and it gives light only to the holder! Best friend of thieves and plunderers! Your son has fine taste, sir."**

"More like the taste of a Death Eater," Remus muttered.

Narcissa stopped herself from just laughing, causing her husband to glare at her in shock, but no one else could hold back their laughter, and it was a good five minutes before the reading could continue.

"**I hope my son will amount to more than a thief or a plunderer, Borgin." said Mr. Malfoy coldly, and Mr. Borgin said quickly, "No offense, sir, no offense meant -"**

"**Though if his grades don't pick up," said Mr. Malfoy, more coldly still, "that may indeed be all he is fit for -"**

"**It's not my fault." retorted Draco. "The teachers all have favorites, that Hermione Granger -"**

"**I would have thought you'd be ashamed that a girl of no wizard family beat you in every exam." snapped Mr. Malfoy. **

"Go Hermione!" Isabel cheered. "Show those stupid gits that muggle-borns are just as good, if not better, then them!"

"Thanks." Hermione said blushing.

"**Ha!" said Harry and Duncan under their breath, pleased to see Draco looking both abashed and angry. **

"**It's the same all over," said Mr. Borgin, in his oily voice. "Wizard blood is counting for less everywhere -"**

"**Not with me." said Mr. Malfoy, his long nostrils flaring.**

"**No, sir, nor with me, sir." said Mr. Borgin, with a deep bow.**

"**In that case, perhaps we can return to my list." said Mr. Malfoy shortly. "I am in something of a hurry, Borgin, I have important business elsewhere today -"**

**They started to haggle. Harry and Duncan watched nervously as Draco drew nearer and nearer to his hiding place, examining the objects for sale. Draco paused to examine a long coil of hangman's rope and to read, smirking, the card propped on a magnificent necklace of opals, **_**Caution: Do Not - Has Claimed the Lives of Nineteen Muggle Owners to Date.**_

**Draco turned away and saw the cabinet right in front of him. He walked forward - he stretched out his hand for the handle - **

"**Done." said Mr. Malfoy at the counter. "Come, Draco -"**

"That was very close." Nico said with wide eyes. It would have been awful if Draco had opened that cabinet.

**Duncan wiped his forehead on his sleeve as Draco turned away.**

"**Good day to you, Mr. Borgin. I'll expect you at the manor tomorrow to pick up the goods."**

**The moment the door had closed, Mr. Borgin dropped his oily manner.**

"**Good day yourself, _Mister_ Malfoy, and if the stories are true, you haven't sold me half of what's hidden in your _manor_…."**

Many people snorted at this, while Lucius and Draco paled more than ever and Narcissa glared at them both.

**Muttering darkly, Mr. Borgin disappeared into a back room. Harry and Duncan waited for a minute in case he came back, then, quietly as they could, slipped out of the cabinet, past the glass cases, and out of the shop door.**

**Clutching his broken glasses to his face, Harry stared around. **

**He had emerged into a dingy alleyway that seemed to be made up entirely of shops devoted to the Dark Arts.**

**The one he'd just left, Borgin and Burkes, looked like the largest, but opposite was a nasty window display of shrunken heads and, two doors down, a large cage was alive with gigantic black spiders.**

Ron and Kenny shuddered, how they hated spiders.

**Two shabby-looking wizards were watching them from the shadow of a doorway, muttering to each other. Feeling jumpy, Harry and Duncan set off, Harry trying to hold his glasses on straight and hoping against hope he'd be able to find a way out of here.**

**An old wooden street sign hanging over a shop selling poisonous candles told him he was in Knockturn Alley. **

**This didn't help, as the Evans had never heard of such a place. Harry supposed he hadn't spoken clearly enough through his mouthful of ashes back in the Weasleys' fire. Duncan was auto-critizing himself. "Diagonally?" Really?**

"Agreed." muttered many in the Hall.

**"Now what do we do?" asked Harry.**

**"No idea."**

"**Not lost are you, my dears?" said a voice in his ear, making him jump.**

**An aged witch stood in front of them, holding a tray of what looked horribly like whole human fingernails. She leered at them, showing mossy teeth. Harry and Duncan backed away.**

"Stay away from them." Margaret hissed.

"**We're fine, thanks." Duncan said. "We're just -"**

"**HARRY! DUNCAN! What d'yeh think yerdoin' down there?"**

"Oh thank god, it's Hagrid." Margaret sighed, smiling slightly.

**The Evans's heart leapt. So did the witch; a load of fingernails cascaded down over her feet and she cursed as the massive form of Hagrid, the Hogwarts' gamekeeper, came striding toward them, beetle-black eyes flashing over his great bristling beard.**

"**Hagrid!" Harry croaked in relief. "We got lost - Floo powder -"**

**Hagrid seized Harry and Duncan by the scruff of the neck and pulled them away from the witch, knocking the tray right out of her hands. **

"Hagrid, be nice to my son's neck." Belloc sighed, shaking his head while Hagrid blushed.

**Her shrieks followed them all the way along the twisting alleyway out into bright sunlight. Harry and Duncan saw a familiar, snow-white marble building in the distance - Gringotts Bank. Hagrid had steered them right into Diagon Alley. **

"**Yer a mess!" said Hagrid gruffly, brushing soot off Harry so forcefully he nearly knocked him into a barrel of dragon dung outside an apothecary. Duncan grimaced and caught his cousin.**

"**Skulkin' around Knockturn Alley, I dunno - dodgy place, boys - don' want no one ter see yeh down there -"**

"**I realized _that_." said Duncan, ducking as Hagrid made to brush him off. "We told you, we were lost - what were you doing down there, anyway?"**

"**_I_**** was lookin' fer a Flesh-Eatin' Slug Repellent." growled Hagrid. "They're ruinin' the school cabbages. Yer not on yer own?"**

"**We're staying with the Weasleys but we got separated." Harry explained. "We've got to go and find them…."**

**They set off together down the street.**

"**How come yeh never wrote back ter me?" said Hagrid as Harry and Duncan jogged alongside him (he had to take three steps to every stride of Hagrid's enormous boots). Harry explained all about Dobby and the Dursleys.**

"**Lousy Muggles." growled Hagrid. "If I'd've known -"**

"It wouldn't be very good for the Dursleys." Duncan said smirking. "I would love to see what he would have done if he'd known."

"**Harry! Duncan! Over here!"**

**Duncan looked up and saw Hermione Granger standing at the top of the white flight of steps to Gringotts. She ran down to meet them, her bushy brown hair flying behind her.**

"**What happened to your glasses? Hello, Hagrid. Hi Duncan - oh, it's**_** wonderful**_** to see you three again - are you coming into Gringotts, guys?"**

"**As soon as we've found the Weasleys." said Harry.**

"**Yeh won't have long ter wait." Hagrid said with a grin.**

**Harry, Duncan and Hermione looked around: Sprinting up the crowded street were Ron, Fred, George, Percy, and Mr. Weasley.**

"**Harry, Duncan." Mr. Weasley panted. "We **_**hoped**_** you'd only gone one grate too far…." He mopped his glistening bald patch. "Molly's frantic - she's coming now -"**

"**Where did you come out?" Ron asked.**

"**Knockturn Alley." said Hagrid grimly.**

"I don't ever want to go back there again." Harry said shuddering.

"**_Excellent!_****" said Fred and George together. **

"It is most certainly not." Molly said sternly.

"**We've never been allowed in." said Ron enviously. **

"I should hope not, that isn't a good place." Remus said gruffly.

"**I should ruddy well think not." growled Hagrid. **

**Mrs. Weasley now came galloping into view, her handbag swinging wildly in one hand, Ginny just clinging onto the other.**

"**Oh, Harry, Duncan - oh, my dear - you could have been anywhere -"**

"Mum was so worried about you." Ginny said.

**Gasping for breath, she pulled a large clothes brush out of her bag and began sweeping off the soot Hagrid hadn't managed to beat away. Mr. Weasley took Harry's glasses, gave them a tap of his wand, and returned them, good as new.**

"I really need to remember that spell." Harry muttered.

"**Well, gotta be off." said Hagrid, who was having his hand wrung by Mrs. Weasley ("Knockturn Alley! If you hadn't found them, Hagrid!")."See yer at Hogwarts!" And he strode away, head and shoulders taller than anyone else in the packed street.**

"**Guess who wesaw in Borgin and Burkes?" Duncan asked Ron and Hermione as they climbed the Gringotts steps. "Malfoy and his father."**

"**Did Lucius Malfoy buy anything?" said Mr. Weasley sharply behind them.**

"**No, he was selling -" said Harry.**

"**So he's worried." said Mr. Weasley with grim satisfaction. "Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something…."**

"I'd be happy if you did too." Dean said. "He really deserves to go to Azkaban."

"**You be careful, Arthur." said Mrs. Weasley sharply as they were bowed into the bank by a goblin at the door. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew -"**

"Ow." Grace winced. "That's going to hurt his ego."

"**So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?" said Mr. Weasley indignantly, but he was distracted almost at once by the sight of Hermione's parents, who were standing nervously at the counter that ran all along the great marble hall, waiting for Hermione to introduce them.**

"I bet that made your dad's day." Remus said chuckling.

"Yep." Ginny said smiling.

"**But you're _Muggles!_" said Mr. Weasley delightedly. "We must have a drink! What's that you've got there? Oh, you're changing Muggle money. Molly, look!" He pointed excitedly at the ten-pound notes in Mr. Granger's hand. **

"My parents thought Mr. Weasley was crazy at first." Hermione said laughing.

"**Meet you back here." Ron said to Hermione as the Weasleys and the Evans were led off to their underground vaults by another Gringotts goblin.**

**The vaults were reached by means of small, goblin-driven carts that sped along miniature train tracks through the bank's underground tunnels. Harry and Duncan enjoyed the breakneck journey down to the Weasleys' vault, but felt dreadful, far worse than he had in Knockturn Alley, when it was opened. There was a very small pile of silver Sickles inside, and just one gold Galleon. Mrs. Weasley felt right into the corners before sweeping the whole lot into her bag. Harry felt even worse when they reached his vault. He tried to block the contents from view as he and Duncan hastily shoved handfuls of coins into a leather bag.**

**Back outside on the marble steps, they all separated. Percy muttered vaguely about needing a new quill. Fred and George had spotted their friend from Hogwarts, Lee Jordan. Duncan had spotted NicoD'Kiaro, a friend of his. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were going to a secondhand robe shop. Mr. Weasley was insisting on taking the Grangers off to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.**

"**We'll all meet at Flourish and Blotts in an hour to buy your schoolbooks." said Mrs. Weasley, setting off with Ginny. "And not one step down Knockturn Alley!" she shouted at the twins' retreating backs.**

"I hope they listened to her." Margaret said worried, that's not a good place for them to go.

"Don't worry, we did." Fred said.

"Good." she said relieved.

**Harry, Ron, and Hermione ran to met with Duncan and Nico. Nico was a tall Hufflepuff second year, with brown curly hair and two coals for eyes.**

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!" came the yell from the Hufflepuff table. Nico had freaked out when his partners had stared at him close, REALLY close.

"Yeah, they seem like coal." One girl said. Nico scowled.

**"Hey, Harr, Ron, Mione." Nico greeted them. "Mind if I join you?"**

** They five strolled off along the winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver, and bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry's pocket was clamoring to be spent, so he bought five large strawberry-and-peanut-butter ice creams, which they slurped happily as they wandered up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows. Ron gazed longingly at a full set of Chudley Cannon robes in the windows of Quality Quidditch Supplies until Hermione dragged them off to buy ink and parchment next door. In Gambol and Japes Wizarding Joke Shop, they met Fred, George, and Lee Jordan, who were stocking up on Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start, No-Heat Fireworks, **a**nd in a tiny junk shop full of broken wands, lopsided brass scales, and old cloaks covered in potion stains they found Percy, deeply immersed in a small and deeply boring book called_Prefects Who Gained Power. _**

"Sounds interesting." Kenny said sarcastically.

"**_A study of Hogwarts prefects and their later careers."_****Nico read aloud off the back cover. "That sounds _fascinating_…."**

"**Go away." Percy snapped. **

"**'Course, he's very ambitious, Percy, he's got it all planned out…. He wants to be Minister of Magic…."**

Many of the Weasley's glared at Percy, who only glared right back.

** Ron told Harry, Duncan, Nico, and Hermione in an undertone as they left Percy to it. **

**An hour later, they headed for Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors, trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:**

**Gilderoy Lockhart **

**will be signing copies of his autobiography**

**_MAGICAL ME_**

**Today 12:30 - 4:30 P.M.**

"**We can actually meet him!" Hermione squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole booklist!"**

"Someone has a crush." Isabel teased.

"Oh shut up." Hermione said blushing.

**"Mione, you can do _so_ much better." Said Nico. "Me, for example. The bravest, smartest, better-looking…"**

"Oh my God, you have the Sirius of your generation!" laughed Margaret, while Snuffles made his way to the Hufflepuff table and started licking Nico, who laughed.

**"And humblest…" said Duncan cheekily.**

**"…student of all Hogwarts." Finished Nico with a grin making Hermione laugh.**

Ron growled a bit. Nico growled right back.

**The crowd seemed to be made up mostly of witches around Mrs. Weasley's age. A harassed-looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies... Don't push, there… mind the books, now…."**

**Harry, Ron, Nico, Duncan and Hermione squeezed inside. A long line wound right to the back of the shop, where Gilderoy Lockhart was signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of **_**The StandardBookof Spells, Grade 2**_** and sneaked up the line to where the rest of the Weasleys were standing with Mr. and Mrs. Granger.**

"**Oh, there you are, good." said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute…."**

**Gilderoy Lockhart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzlingly white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockhart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.**

**A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.**

"**Out of the way, there." he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the _Daily Prophet_ -"**

"Who cares?" Kenny said rolling his eyes.

"**Big deal." said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.**

**Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Ron - and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It **_**can't**_** be Harry Potter?"**

"RUN HARRY!" Ron yelled.

"Weasel." Duncan growled. "That was right in my ear."

"Sorry Firebreather." Ronsaid smiling innocently at Duncan, who just glared at him.

**The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. **

"Hey! Get your filthy hands off him!" Belloc said scowling.

**The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face burned as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys.**

"**Nice big smile, Harry," said Lockhart, through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."**

"That idiot is using my nephew for his own publicly." Margaret said glaring.

**When he finally let go of Harry's hand, Harry could hardly feel his fingers. He tried to sidle back over to the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm around his shoulders and clamped him tightly to his side.**

"**Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!**

"**When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to buy my autobiography - which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge -" The crowd applauded again. **

"**He had _no idea_," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, _MagicalMe._ He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"**

"They're doomed." Remus said groaning.

**"NOOOOOOOO!" yelled Nico, Duncan, and the twins, but they weren't heard because the crowd cheered and clapped and Harry found himself being presented with the entire works of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, he managed to make his way out of the limelight to the edge of the room, where Ginny was standing next to her new cauldron.**

"**You have these," Harry mumbled to her, tipping the books into the cauldron. "I'll buy my own -"**

"That was sweet of you." Isabel said smiling at Harry, who blushed.

"**Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" said a voice Harry had no trouble recognizing. He straightened up and found himself face-to-face with Draco Malfoy, who was wearing his usual sneer.**

"**_Famous_**** Harry Potter." said Malfoy. "Can't even go into a _bookshop_ without making the front page."**

"Shut up, you stupid git." Ron said glaring.

"**Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" said Ginny. It was the first time she had spoken in front of Harry. She was glaring at Malfoy.**

"Go Ginny!" Jenna cheered smiling at her.

"**Potter, you've got yourself a _girlfriend_!"**

"_No, she is sitting here with me_." Thought Harry. Duncan stared at him wide-eyed, grateful that Isabel didn't know Leginimency.

**drawled Malfoy. Ginny went scarlet as Ron, Duncan, Nico, and Hermione fought their way over, clutching stacks of Lockhart's books.**

"**Oh, it's you." said Nico, looking at Malfoy as if he were something unpleasant on the sole of his shoe. **

**"Bet you're surprised to see Harry here, eh?" said Ron**

"**Not as surprised as I am to see you in a shop, Weasley." retorted Malfoy. "I suppose your parents will go hungry for a month to pay for all those."**

Everyone let out a hiss of anger.

**Ron went as red as Ginny. He dropped his books into the cauldron, too, and started toward Malfoy, but Harry, Duncan, and Hermione grabbed the back of his jacket.**

"What did you do that for?" Belloc said frowning. "You should have let Ron hit him."

"Fighting doesn't solve everything." Duncan said.

"It's a nice way to release anger, though." Belloc said.

"Boys." Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"**Ron!" said Mr. Weasley, struggling over with Fred and George. "What are you doing? It's too crowded in here, let's go outside."**

"**Well, well, well - Arthur Weasley."**

**It was Mr. Malfoy. He stood with his hand on Draco's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.**

"Git." Harry said darkly.

"**Lucius." said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.**

"**Busy time at the Ministry, I hear." said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids… I hope they're paying you overtime?"**

**He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid the glossy Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of **_**A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration**_**.**

"**Obviously not." Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"**

"You're the one who is a disgrace to the wizard name." Maggie said snarling.

**Mr. Weasley flushed darker than either Ron or Ginny.**

"**We have very different ideas of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy." he said.**

"**Clearly." said Mr. Malfoy, his pale eyes straying to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, who were watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley… and I thought your family could sink no lower -"**

"There's nothing wrong with Muggles, you stupid prejudiced git." Margaret said glaring.

**There was a thud of metal as Ginny's cauldron went flying; Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, knocking him backward into a bookshelf. **

"GO ARTHUR!" Belloc and Margaret yelled.

**Dozens of heavy spellbooks came thundering down on all their heads; there was a yell of, "Get him, Dad!" from Fred or George; Mrs. Weasley was shrieking, "No, Arthur, no!"; "Go Mr. Weasley!" from Duncan, Harry, and Nico; the crowd stampeded backward, knocking more shelves over; **

"**Gentlemen, please - please!" cried the assistant, and then, louder than all -**

"**Break it up, there, gents, break it up -"**

**Hagrid was wading toward them through the sea of books. In an instant he had pulled Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy apart. Mr. Weasley had a cut lip and Mr. Malfoy had been hit in the eye by an **_**Encyclopedia of Toadstools**_**. He was still holding Ginny's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at her, his eyes glittering with malice.**

Ginny paled. That's when she got Voldemort's dairy and the start of a very horrible year.

"**Here, girl - take your book - it's the best your father can give you -" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.**

"Good riddance." Grace muttered.

"**Yeh should've ignored him, Arthur." said Hagrid, almost lifting Mr. Weasley off his feet as he straightened his robes. "Rotten ter the core, the whole family, everyone knows that - no Malfoy's worth listenin' ter - bad blood, that's what it is - come on now - let's get outta here."**

"Well said, Hagrid." Remus said.

**The assistant looked as though he wanted to stop them leaving, but he barely came up to Hagrid's waist and seemed to think better of it. They hurried up the street, the Grangers shaking with fright and Mrs. Weasley beside herself with fury.**

"**A _fine_ example to set for your children… _brawling_ in public… _what_Gilderoy Lockhart must've thought -"**

"Who cares?" Belloc and Nico said.

"**He was pleased." said Fred. "Didn't you hear him as we were leaving? He was asking that bloke from the _Daily Prophet_ if he'd be able to work the fight into his report - said it was all publicity -"**

"Figures." Remus said shaking his head.

**But it was a subdued group that headed back to the fireside in the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry, Duncan, the Weasleys, and all their shopping would be traveling back to the Burrow using Floo powder. They said good-bye to Nico and the Grangers, who were leaving the pub for the Muggle street on the other side; Mr. Weasley started to ask them how bus stops worked, but stopped quickly at the look on Mrs. Weasley's face.**

Cue snorts.

**Harry took off his glasses and put them safely in his pocket before helping himself to Floo powder. ****Itdefinitelywasn'thisfavoritewaytotravel. **

* * *

**All right, another over.**

**Could you go and see my other story, Demon Child?**

**I'll always be:**

**H. E. B.**


	6. The Whomping Willow

**I AM BAAAAAACK! sORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE!**

* * *

"**CHAPTER FIVE, The Whomping Willow" **Nico started, letting everyone think about what the title meant.

"Duncan Belloc and Harry James, what were you doing near that tree?" asked Margaret sternly. Duncan and Harry just grinned sheepishly

**The end of the summer vacation came too quickly for the cousins' liking. They were looking forward to getting back to Hogwarts, but their month at the Burrow had been the happiest of his life. It was difficult not to feel jealous of Ron when they thought of the Dursleys and the sort of welcome he could expect next time he turned up on Privet Drive. **

Sirius whimpered and his godsons hugged him, whispering that it was okay, that it didn't matter. If anything, Harry and Duncan were more worried about how their thoughts in their third year would make their godfather feel.

**On their last evening, Mrs. Weasley conjured up a sumptuous dinner that included all of the cousins's favorite things, ending with a mouthwatering treacle pudding. Fred and George rounded off the evening with a display of Filibuster fireworks; they filled the kitchen with red and blue stars that bounced from ceiling to wall for at least half an hour. Then it was time for a last mug of hot chocolate and bed. **

**It took a long while to get started next morning. They were up at dawn, but somehow they still seemed to have a great deal to do. Mrs. Weasley dashed about in a bad mood looking for spare socks and quills; people kept colliding on the stairs, **

Well they are a little narrow." Bill said.

"Question is why was everyone colliding?" Charlie asked.

"I almost tripped, I sometimes do that when I'm in a hurry." said Duncan

**half-dressed with bits of toast in their hands; and Mr. Weasley nearly broke his neck, tripping over a stray chicken as he crossed the yard carrying Ginny's trunk to the car. **

**Harry couldn't see how nine people, seven large trunks, three owls, and a rat were going to fit into one small Ford Anglia. He had reckoned, of course, without the special features that Mr. Weasley had added. **

"And you know, more magic," Margaret grinned.

"**Not a word to Molly," he whispered to Harry and Duncan**

"Arthur, what did you do?" Mrs. Weasley asked menacingly.

"Nothing awful, just useful." Mr. Weasley said.

** as he opened the trunk and showed him how it had been magically expanded so that the luggage fitted easily. **

**When at last they were all in the car, Mrs. Weasley glanced into the back seat, where Harry, Duncan, Ron, Fred, George, and Percy were all sitting comfortably side by side, and said, "Muggles _do _know more than we give them credit for, don't they?" She and Ginny got into the front seat, which had been stretched so that it resembled a park bench. "I mean, you'd never know it was this roomy from the outside, would you?" **

Belloc and Margaret snorted, shaking their heads, as Molly looked at Arthur angrily, who just grinned sheepishly and shrugged.

**Mr. Weasley started up the engine and they trundled out of the yard, Duncan turning back for a last look at the house. He barely had time to wonder when he'd see it again when they were back. George had forgotten his box of Filibuster fireworks. Five minutes after that, they skidded to a halt in the yard so that Fred could run in for his broomstick. They had almost reached the highway when Ginny shrieked that she'd left her diary. By the time she had clambered back into the car, they were running very late, and tempers were running high. Mr. Weasley glanced at his watch and then at his wife. **

"**Molly, dear —" **

"**_No_****, Arthur —–" **

"**No one would see — this little button here is an Invisibility Booster I installed — that'd get us up in the air — then we fly above the clouds. We'd be there in ten minutes and no one would be any the wiser —" **

"**I said no, Arthur, not in broad daylight —" **

"Pity. Love to see that beauty fly," Maggie sighed wistfully while Harry and Duncan smirked at Ron.

**They reached King's Cross at a quarter to eleven. Mr. Weasley dashed across the road to get trolleys for their trunks and they all hurried into the station.**

**Harry had caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky part was getting onto platform nine and three-quarters, which wasn't visible to the Muggle eye. What you had to do was walk through the solid barrier dividing platforms nine and ten. It didn't hurt, but it had to be done carefully so that none of the Muggles noticed you vanishing. **

"**Percy first," said Mrs. Weasley, looking nervously at the clock overhead, which showed they had only five minutes to disappear casually through the barrier. **

**Percy strode briskly forward and vanished. Mr. Weasley went next; Fred and George followed. **

"**I'll take Ginny and you three come right after us," Mrs. Weasley told Harry, Duncan and Ron, grabbing Ginny's hand and setting off.**

**"**I should have stayed and made sure that you two got through." Mrs. Weasley said, glaring at Harry, Duncan and Ron.

"Molly will you quite glaring at my son?" Belloc snarled.

** In the blink of an eye they were gone. **

"**Let's go together, we've only got a minute," Ron said to the Evans. **

**Harry and Duncan made sure that Hedwig and Finem's cage was safely wedged on top of his trunk and wheeled his trolley around to face the barrier. They felt perfectly confident; this wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as using Floo powder. The three of them bent low over the handles of their trolleys and walked purposefully toward the barrier, gathering speed. A few feet away from it, they broke into a run and — **

**CRASH. **

"What?" Belloc asked, sitting up straighter with a look of worry on his face.

**The three trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backward; Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Duncan' trunk collided with him, making him fall, **

**"**Aush." Duncan muttered in remembrance

**Harry was knocked off his feet, and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor, and she rolled away, shrieking indignantly; people all around them stared and a guard nearby yelled, "What in blazes d'you think you're doing?" **

"**Lost control of the trolley," Duncan gasped, clutching his ribs as he got up. Ron ran to pick up Hedwig, who was causing such a scene that there was a lot of muttering about cruelty to animals from the surrounding crowd. **

"**Why can't we get through?" Duncan growled to Ron. **

"It wasn't his fault!" said Padma.

"I know!"

"**I dunno —" **

"But the barrier has never been sealed!" Margaret cried, worried for her son, despite him being right there in front of her.

**Ron looked wildly around. A dozen curious people were still watching them. "We're going to miss the train," Ron whispered. "I don't understand why the gateway's sealed itself —" **

**Harry looked up at the giant clock with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. Ten seconds… nine seconds… He wheeled his trolley forward cautiously until it was right against the barrier and pushed with all his might. The metal remained solid. Three seconds… two seconds… one second… **

"**It's gone," said Ron, sounding stunned. "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Have you got any Muggle money?" **

**Harry gave a hollow laughed. "The Dursleys haven't given me pocket money for about six years."**

"They gave you some before?" Seamus asked.

"Yeah, only to buy Dudley his sweets as he isn't very good with money." Duncan said.

** Ron pressed his ear to the cold barrier. Duncan raised an eyebrow.**

"**Can't hear a thing," he said tensely, "What're we going to do? I don't know how long it'll take Mum and Dad to get back to us." They looked around. People were still watching them, mainly because of Hedwig's continuing screeches. **

"**I think we'd better go and wait by the car," said Duncan. "We're attracting too much atten —" **

"**Guys!" said Ron, his eyes gleaming. "The car!" **

"**What about it?" **

"**We can fly the car to Hogwarts!" **

"AMAZING!" Nico shouted, grinning.

"**But I thought —" **

"**We're stuck, right? And we've got to get to school, haven't we? And even underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's a real emergency, section nineteen or something of the Restriction of Thingy —" **

"But you have an owl! I get that you're young, and panicked, but, well, OWL. Duncan Belloc, you should realize—" Margaret started, only to glare at her husband, who had put a silencing charm on her.

"Sorry marguerite, but I really want to hear this," Belloc shrugged.

"**But your Mum and Dad…" said Harry, pushing against the barrier again in the vain hope that it would give way. "How will they get home?" finished Duncan**

"**They don't need the car!" said Ron impatiently. "They know how to Apparate! You know, just vanish and reappear at home! They only bother with Floo powder and the car because we're all underage and we're not allowed to Apparate yet…" Harry's feeling of panic turned suddenly to excitement. **

"**Can you fly it?" asked Duncan exited **

"**No, problem," said Ron, wheeling his trolley around to face the exit. "C'mon, let's go. If we hurry we'll be able to follow the Hogwarts Express —" And they marched off through the crowd of curious Muggles, out of the station and back onto the side road where the old Ford Anglia was parked. Ron unlocked the cavernous trunk with a series of taps from his wand. They heaved their luggage back in, put Hedwig and Finem on the back seat, and got into the front, Duncan in the back seat. **

"**Check that no one's watching," said Ron, starting the ignition with another tap of his wand. Duncan stuck his head out of the window: Traffic was rumbling along the main road ahead, but their street was empty. **

"At least they weren't being watched." Tonks said.

"That's a relief; I just hope nothing else goes wrong." Ginny said.

"This is Duncan and Harry we're talking about, it will go wrong." Remus said with a sigh looking at his surrogate nephews sadly.

"**Okay," he said. Ron pressed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished — and so did they. Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, hear the engine, feel his hands on his knees and his glasses on his nose, but for all he could see, he had become a pair of eyeballs, floating a few feet above the ground in a dingy street full of parked cars. **

"Pretty sure your eyeballs would also become invisible," Draco snorted.

"**Let's go," said Ron's voice from his right. **

**And the ground and the dirty buildings on either side fell away, dropping out of sight as the car rose; in seconds, the whole of London lay, smoky and glittering, below them. **

**Then there was a popping noise and the car, Harry, Duncan and Ron reappeared. **

"**Uh-oh," said Ron, jabbing at the Invisibility Booster. "It's faulty —" **

"That's not good!" Margaret sighed, having been released from the silencing.

**Both of them pummeled it. The car vanished. Then it flickered back again. **

"**Hold on!" Ron yelled, and he slammed his foot on the accelerator; they shot straight into the low, woolly clouds and everything turned dull and foggy. **

"**Now what?" said Duncan, blinking at the solid mass of cloud pressing in on them from all sides. **

"**We need to see the train to know what direction to go in," said Ron. **

"**Dip back down again — quickly —" They dropped back beneath the clouds and twisted around in their seats, squinting at the ground. **

"**I can see it!" Duncan yelled. "Right ahead — there!" The Hogwarts Express was streaking along below them like a scarlet snake.**

Gryffindor and Slytherin looked offended

"**Due north," said Ron, checking the compass on the dashboard. "Okay, we'll just have to check on it every half hour or so — hold on —" And they shot up through the clouds. A minute later, they burst out into a blaze of sunlight. It was a different world. The wheels of the car skimmed the sea of fluffy cloud, the sky a bright, endless blue under the blinding white sun. **

"**All we've got to worry about now are airplanes," said Ron. **

"Those fly higher, Ronald," Hermione laughed.

**They looked at each other and started to laugh; for a long time, they couldn't stop. **

**It was as though they had been plunged into a fabulous dream. This, thought Harry, was surely the only way to travel — past swirls and turrets of snowy cloud, in a car full of hot, bright sunlight, with a fat pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and the prospect of seeing Fred's and George's jealous faces when they landed smoothly and spectacularly on the sweeping lawn in front of Hogwarts castle. **

"We would've been,"

"So very jealous,"

"If only you,"

"Had landed smoothly." Fred finished, grinning, while Margaret looked on, horrified.

**They made regular checks on the train as they flew farther and farther north, each dip beneath the clouds showing them a different view. London was soon far behind them, replaced by neat green fields that gave way in turn to wide, purplish moors, a great city alive with cars like multicolored ants, villages with tiny toy churches. **

**Several uneventful hours later, however, Harry had to admit that some of the fun was wearing off. The toffees had made them extremely thirsty and they had nothing to drink. He and Ron had pulled off their sweaters, but Harry's T-shirt was sticking to the back of his seat and his glasses kept sliding down to the end of his sweaty nose. Duncan's hair had been heating him, so he had put it in a ponytail.**

"And he looked like a carbon copy of this guy." Ron said pointing at Belloc. Belloc and Duncan smiled

** He had stopped noticing the fantastic cloud shapes now and was thinking longingly of the train miles below, where you could buy ice-cold pumpkin juice from a trolley pushed by a plump witch. _Why _hadn't they been able to get onto platform nine and three-quarters? **

"**Can't be much further, can it?" croaked Ron, hours later still, as the sun started to sink into their floor of cloud, staining it a deep pink. "Ready for another check on the train?" **

**It was still right below them, winding its way past a snowcapped mountain. It was much darker beneath the canopy of clouds. Ron put his foot down on the accelerator and drove them downwards again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine, and Duncan's door flew open.**

"WHAT?!" everyone yelled.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Hermione asked.

"I was fine, Ron pulled me back in." Duncan said with a shrug.

"Pulled you back in?" Margaret asked faintly as Maggie clutched his hand tightly.

**Duncan fell out grabbing the inside handle of the car door quickly,**

"_Thank god for your Kaiju reflexes_." Harry said.

"_No kidding_," Duncan said. "Mag, I'm fine I'm right here." he said to Maggie

**He clung to it dangling over hundreds of feet in the air. **

Duncan heard Maggie whimper and cling to him tighter as if she were afraid he would disappear.

**"DUNC!" yelled Harry leaning over to try and help him back in,** **Duncan tried to push himself up, as Ron held out his hand. "Hold on!" he yelled, Duncan reached grabbed his hand;**

Sighs of relief were heard around the room.

**but it slipped from his grasp.**

**"Hold ON!" Ron yelled louder, his eyes wide with worry. **

**"I'm trying!" Duncan yelled back. "Your hands are all sweaty. PULL ME UP!**

"Not good," Belloc said looking at his son with wide eyes.

"Mine were too."Duncan said

**Finally with one big reach Duncan grasped Harry's hand tightly** **and he helped drag him back into the car. When his feet were in; he slammed the door shut. Panting, Harry, Duncan and Ron shared nervous glances. "Best put the lock on," he said clicking a button on his side.**

"Should have done that in the first place." Isabel mumbled.

"Yeah, we probably should have." Ron said.

**Ron put his foot on the accelerator and drove them upward again, but as he did so, the engine began to whine. Harry, Duncan and Ron exchanged nervous glances. **

"**It's probably just tired," said Ron. "It's never been this far before…" **

**And they both pretended not to notice the whining growing louder and louder as the sky became steadily darker. Duncan, however, would flinch every time that occurred.**

"And I repeat: Damned Kaiju hearing."

**Stars were blossoming in the blackness. Harry pulled his sweater back on, trying to ignore the way the windshield wipers were now waving feebly, as though in protest. **

"Oh dear," Kenny whispered.

"**Not far," said Ron, more to the car than to Harry, "not far now," and he patted the dashboard nervously. **

**When they flew back beneath the clouds a little while later, they had to squint through the darkness for a landmark they knew. **

"**_There_****!" Harry shouted, making Ron, Duncan, Finem and Hedwig jump. "Straight ahead!" Silhouetted on the dark horizon, high on the cliff over the lake, stood the many turrets and towers of Hogwarts castle. But the car had begun to shudder and was losing speed. **

"Oh oh." Whispered Dean

"**Come on," Ron said cajolingly, giving the steering wheel a little shake, "nearly there, come on —" The engine groaned. Narrow jets of steam were issuing from under the hood. Harry found himself gripping the edges of his seat very hard as they flew toward the lake. **

**The car gave a nasty wobble. Glancing out of his window, Harry saw the smooth, black, glassy surface of the water, a mile below. Ron's knuckles were white on the steering wheel. The car wobbled again. **

"**Come on," Ron muttered. **

**They were over the lake — the castle was right ahead — Ron put his foot down. There was a loud clunk, a splutter, and the engine died completely. **

"**Uh-oh," said Ron, into the silence. **

Belloc flinched while Margaret covered her eyes.

**The nose of the car dropped. They were falling, gathering speed, heading straight for the solid castle wall. **

**"**NOOOO!" yelled Maggie and Isabel in worry

"**_Noooooo!" _****Ron yelled, swinging the steering wheel around; they missed the dark stone wall by inches as the car turned in a great arc, soaring over the dark greenhouses, then the vegetable patch, and then out over the black lawns, losing altitude all the time. Ron let go of the steering wheel completely and pulled his wand out of his back pocket — **

"**STOP! STOP!" he yelled, whacking the dashboard and the windshield, but they were still plummeting, the ground flying up toward them — **

"**WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE!" Duncan bellowed, lunging for the steering wheel, but too late— **

**CRUNCH. **

"I see why this is titled after a horrible tree," Fred grimaced.

**With an earsplitting bang of metal on wood, they hit the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled hood; Hedwig and Finem were shrieking in terror; a golfball-size lump was throbbing on Harry's head where he had hit the windshield; and to his right, Ron let out a low, despairing groan. Duncan was coughing for breath. **

"**Are you okay?" Harry said urgently. Duncan gave him a coughy "yeah"**

"What had happen to you?" asked Belloc.

"N-Nothing" said Duncan insecurely. "A bit bruised, nothing else."

"**My wand," said Ron, in a shaky voice. "Look at my wand —" **

**It had snapped, almost in two; the tip was dangling limply, held on by a few splinters. **

"Ouch." A few students winced

**Harry opened his mouth to say he was sure they'd be able to mend it up at the school, but he never even got started. At that very moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways into Ron, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof. **

Grace starting punching Duncan furiously

"Only-you-would-hit-the-tree-that-hits-back!"

"**What's happen —?" **

**Duncan gasped, staring through the windshield, and Harry looked around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash into it. The tree they had hit was attacking them. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every inch of the car it could reach. **

"**Aaargh!" said Ron as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door; the windshield was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to be caving in. **

"**Run for it!" Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second he had been knocked backward into Harry's lap by a vicious uppercut from another branch. **

**Duncan' eyes suddenly shone green, wide.**

**"GIVE ME SOME ROOM!" He yelled, lunging to the front seat as a huge branch crushed the site he had been a moment ago**

Cue wide eyes.

"I AM FINE!" Duncan yelled

"Can you tell me how many times you were close to die?" asked a pale Margaret.

"Six times at least, and counting." Said Duncan casually.

"**We're done for!" he moaned as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating — the engine had restarted. **

"**_Reverse_****!" Harry yelled, and the car shot backward;**

"What the-?" asked Kenny

** the tree was still trying to hit them; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach. **

"**That," panted Ron, "was close. Well done, car —" **

**The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With two sharp clunks, the doors flew open and Harry and Duncan felt his seat tip sideways: Next thing he knew he was sprawled on the damp ground. Loud thuds told him that the car was ejecting their luggage from the trunk; Hedwig and Finem's cage flew through the air and burst open; they rose out of it with an angry screech and sped off toward the castle without a backward look. Then, dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear lights blazing angrily.**

**"**You…you…you…" started Kenny wide-eyed.

"He…he…he…" Fred insisted

"He made the car alive!" Arthur grinned

"_IT'S ALIVE_!" Harry crackled. Duncan chuckled

"**Come back!" Ron yelled after it, brandishing his broken wand. "Dad'll kill me!" **

**But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust. **

"No, not me. More like your mother," Arthur muttered, while Molly glared.

"**Can you _believe _our luck?" said Ron miserably,**

"Not really."

** bending down to pick up Scabbers. "Of all the trees we could've hit, we had to get one that hits back." He glanced over his shoulder at the ancient tree, which was still flailing its branches threateningly. **

"**Come on," said Duncan wearily, "we'd better get up to the school…" **

**It wasn't at all the triumphant arrival they had pictured.**

"Not at all." Smiled the twins

** Stiff, cold, and bruised, they seized the ends of their trunks and began dragging them up the grassy slope, toward the great oak front doors. **

"**I think the feast's already started," said Ron, dropping his trunk at the foot of the front steps and crossing quietly to look through a brightly lit window. "Hey — guys — come and look — it's the Sorting!" Harry and Duncan hurried over and, together, they and Ron peered in at the Great Hall. Innumerable candles were hovering in midair over four long, crowded tables, making the golden plates and goblets sparkle. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling, which always mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with stars. Through the forest of pointed black Hogwarts hats, Harry saw a long line of scared-looking first years filing into the Hall. Ginny was among them, easily visible because of her vivid Weasley hair. **

Ginny smiled, happy that Harry had been looking for her. Isabel glared at her.

"_Wait, what I am doing? It's not like I fancy him or anything…is it?"_ she thought

**Meanwhile, Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her hair in a tight bun, was placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers. Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed, and dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin). Harry well remembered putting it on, exactly one year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its decision as it muttered aloud in his ear. For a few horrible seconds he had feared that the hat was going to put him in Slytherin, the house that had turned out more Dark witches and wizards than any other but he had ended up in Gryffindor, along with Ron, Hermione, Duncan, and the rest of the Weasleys.**

** Last term, Harry, Duncan and Ron had helped Gryffindor win the House Championship, beating Slytherin for the first time in seven years. **

Gryffindor cheered

**A very small, mousy-haired boy had been called forward to place the hat on his head. Harry's eyes wandered past him to where Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster, sat watching the Sorting from the staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon glasses shining brightly in the candlelight. Several seats along, Harry saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine. **

"What kind of man dresses in aquamarine?" asked Remus

**And there at the end was Hagrid, huge and hairy, drinking deeply from his goblet. **

"**Hang on…" Duncan muttered to Ron. "There's an empty chair at the staff table… Where's Snape?" Professor Severus Snape was the cousins' least favorite teacher. Harry and Duncan also happened to be Snape's least favorite students. Cruel, sarcastic, and disliked by everybody except the students from his own house (Slytherin), Snape taught Potions. **

"**Maybe he's ill!" said Ron hopefully. **

"**Maybe he's _left_," said Harry, "because he missed out on the Defense Against Dark Arts job _again_!" **

"**Or he might have been _sacked_!" said Duncan enthusiastically. "I mean, everyone hates him —" **

"**Or maybe," said a very cold voice right behind them, "he's waiting to hear why you two didn't arrive on the school train."**

"Oh, what a luck." Grimaced Belloc

** Harry and Duncan spun around. There, his black robes rippling in a cold breeze, stood Severus Snape. He was a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair, and at this moment, he was smiling in a way that told Harry he and Ron were in very deep trouble. Duncan gulped audibly. **

"Scared?" taunted Malfoy. Duncan glared a death glare and Malfoy flinched.

"**Follow me," said Snape. Not daring even to look at each other, Harry, Duncan and Ron followed Snape up the steps into the vast, echoing entrance hall, which was lit with flaming torches. A delicious smell of food was wafting from the Great Hall, but Snape led them away from the warmth and light, down a narrow stone staircase that led into the dungeons.**

"Why in the WORLD every time the dungeons are mentioned you look happy?" asked Duncan to his Dad.

"You know what?" said Duncan when he saw Belloc opening his mouth with a nasty grin. "I don't want to know."

"**In!" he said, opening a door halfway down the cold passageway and pointing. They entered Snape's office, shivering. The shadowy walls were lined with shelves of large glass jars, in which floated all manner of revolting things Harry didn't really want to know the name of at the moment. The fireplace was dark and empty. Snape closed the door and turned to look at them. **

"**So," he said softly, "the train isn't good enough for the famous Harry Potter and his faithful sidekicks Rosenblatt and Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a _bang_, did we, boys?" **

Belloc growled while Margaret snarled, muttering about how Harry wasn't James and Severus needed to grow up already, making him flinch.

"**No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it —" **

"**Silence!" said Snape coldly. "What have you done with the car?" Ron gulped. This wasn't the first time Snape had given Duncan the impression of being able to read minds. **

Harry heard Sirius growl and looked at him in confusion, wondering why, but let it out of his mind for now.

**But a moment later, he understood, as Snape unrolled today's issue of the _Evening Prophet_. "You were seen," he hissed, showing them the headline_: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIES MUGGLES. _He began to read aloud: "Two Muggles in London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the Post Office tower… at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her washing… Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to police… Six or seven Muggles in all.**

"Oh, dear." Groaned Isabel softly

** I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?" he said, looking up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. "Dear, dear… his own son…" **

"Oh no," Maggie groaned, shaking her head.

**Duncan felt as though he'd just been walloped in the stomach by one of the mad tree's larger branches. If anyone found out Mr. Weasley had bewitched the car… he hadn't thought of that… **

"He really tends to take all the blame of him." Observed Belloc quietly.

"Damned Dursleys." Said Margaret through gritted teeth.

"**I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Snape went on. **

"**That tree did more damage to us than we —" Ron blurted out. **

"**_Silence_****!" snapped Snape again. "Most unfortunately, you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with me.**

"Thank God." Said Jenna

** I shall go and fetch the people who _do _have that happy power. You will wait here." Harry, Duncan and Ron stared at each other, white-faced. **

**"**McGonagall." Gryffindor muttered

**Harry didn't feel hungry any more. He now felt extremely sick. He tried not to look at a large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a shelf behind Snape's desk. If Snape had gone to fetch Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, they were hardly any better off. She might be fairer than Snape, but she was still extremely strict. Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough it was Professor McGonagall who accompanied him. Harry had seen Professor McGonagall angry on several occasions, but either he had forgotten just how thin her mouth could go, or he had never seen her this angry before. She raised her wand the moment she entered; Harry, Duncan and Ron flinched, but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, where flames suddenly erupted.**

**"**I wasn't going to hex you or anything" said McGonnagall shocked

"We know that now."

"**Sit," she said, and they both backed into chairs by the fire. **

"**Explain," she said, her glasses glinting ominously. **

**Ron launched into the story, starting with the barrier at the station refusing to let them through. **

"— **so we had no choice, Professor, we couldn't get on the train." **

"**Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? I believe _you _have an owl?" Professor McGonagall said coldly to Harry and Duncan. They gaped at her. Now she said it that seemed the obvious thing to have done. **

"**I — I didn't think —" Duncan stammered**

"**That," said Professor McGonagall, "is obvious." **

Many people snorted, while Minerva tried not to smirk.

**There was a knock on the office door and Snape, now looking happier than ever, opened it. There stood the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore. Duncan's whole body went numb. Dumbledore was looking unusually grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and Harry suddenly found himself wishing he, Duncan and Ron were still being beaten up by the Whomping Willow. There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, "Please explain why you did this." **

**It would have been better if he had shouted. Duncan hated the disappointment in his voice.**

"Yeah, worst method of confrontation." Mumbled Duncan

"It makes you feel like crap." Agreed Nico

** For some reason, he was unable to look Dumbledore in the eyes, and spoke instead to his knees. He told Dumbledore everything except that Mr. Weasley owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though he and Ron had happened to find a flying car parked outside the station. He knew Dumbledore would see through this at once, but Dumbledore asked no questions about the car. When Duncan had finished, he merely continued to peer at them through his spectacles. **

"**We'll go and get our stuff," said Ron in a hopeless sort of voice. **

"**What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Professor McGonagall. **

"**Well, you're expelling us, aren't you?" said Ron. Harry and Duncan looked quickly at Dumbledore. **

"**Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. "But I must impress upon the three of you the seriousness of what you have done. I will be writing to both your families tonight.**

"Hang on, how is that you didn't inform Mom about that?" asked Duncan. Margaret looked surprised as well.

Dumbledore didn't respond, making Duncan feel angry at the Headmaster, as well as guilty. He had never thought about how desperate his Mom would feel all those years, but now…

** I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you." **

"Like the Dursley's will care," George snorted.

**Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled.**

**"**Stupid bastard." Mused Belloc under his breath. Margaret glared at him

** He cleared his throat and said, "Professor Dumbledore, these boys have flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree — surely acts of this nature —" **

"**It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on these boys' punishments, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "They are in her House and are therefore her responsibility." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample —" **

**Snape shot a look of pure venom at Harry, Duncan and Ron as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving them alone with Professor McGonagall, who was still eyeing them like a wrathful eagle. **

"**You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley and Rosenblatt, you're bleeding."**

"WHAT?!" shouted Molly and Margaret worried. Duncan and Ron looked at each other and rolled their eyes

"**Not much," said Ron, hastily wiping the cut over his eye with his sleeve.**

**"I'm fine." Said Duncan, trying to wipe the blood that was in his shirt. That had been a nasty crash…**

**"**You could have broken ribs or something!" yelled Margaret. Duncan didn't bother to explain that he still thought he had had some, not that he even went to the Hospital Wing to check.

"**Professor, I wanted to watch my sister being Sorted —" **

"**The Sorting Ceremony is over," said Professor McGonagall. "Your sister is also in Gryffindor." **

"**Oh, good," said Ron. **

"**And speaking of Gryffindor —" Professor McGonagall said sharply, but Harry cut in: **

"**Professor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so — so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points taken from it — should it?" he finished, watching her anxiously. Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but he was sure she had almost smiled. Her mouth looked less thin, anyway. **

"That's because I _did_ smile, Potter. What you said was such a – such a James Potter thing to say that I _couldn't _help but smile in remembrance. I was actually extremely proud at you in that moment." Minerva smiled, causing Harry to blush.

"**I will not take any points from Gryffindor," she said, and Harry's heart lightened considerably. "But you will both get a detention." It was better than Harry and Duncan had expected. As for Dumbledore's writing to the Dursleys, that was nothing. Harry knew perfectly well they'd just be disappointed that the Whomping Willow hadn't squashed him flat. **

Cue more angry muttering

**Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and pointed it at Snape's desk. A large plate of sandwiches, two silver goblets, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop. **

"**You will eat in here and then go straight up to your dormitory," she said. "I must also return to the feast." **

**When the door had closed behind her, Ron let out a long, low whistle. "I thought we'd had it," he said, grabbing a sandwich. **

"**So did I," said Harry and Duncan, taking one, too. **

"**Can you believe our luck, though?" said Ron thickly through a mouthful of chicken and ham. "Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw _them_." He swallowed and took another huge bite. "_Why _couldn't we get through the barrier?" **

"Five or six times?" Molly glared at the twins, who scrunched back.

**Harry shrugged. "We'll have to watch our step from now on, though," Harry said, taking a grateful swig of pumpkin juice. "Wish we could've gone up to the feast…" **

"**She didn't want us showing off," said Duncan sagely. "Doesn't want people to think it's clever, arriving by flying car."**

**"**That was…intelligent." Said Isabel stunned

"Dun can be very intelligent when he wants to be." Said Maggie

** When they had eaten as many sandwiches as they could (the plate kept refilling itself) they rose and left the office, treading the familiar path to Gryffindor Tower. The castle was quiet; it seemed that the feast was over. They walked past muttering portraits and creaking suits of armor, and climbed narrow flights of stone stairs, until at last they reached the passage where the secret entrance to Gryffindor Tower was hidden, behind an oil painting of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. **

"**Password?" she said as they approached. **

"**Er —" said Harry. They didn't know the new year's password, not having met a Gryffindor prefect yet, but help came almost immediately; they heard hurrying feet behind them and turned to see Hermione dashing toward them.**

"**_There _****you are! Where have you _been_? The most _ridiculous _rumors — someone said you'd been expelled for crashing a flying _car_!" **

"**Well, we haven't been expelled," Duncan assured her. **

"**You're not telling me you _did _fly here?" said Hermione, sounding almost as severe as Professor McGonagall. **

Hermione smiled

"**Skip the lecture," said Ron impatiently, "and tell us the new password." **

"**It's 'wattlebird,'" said Hermione impatiently, "but that's not the point —" **

**Her words were cut short, however, as the portrait of the fat lady swung open and there was a sudden storm of clapping. It looked as though the whole of Gryffindor House was still awake, packed into the circular common room, standing on the lopsided tables and squashy armchairs, waiting for them to arrive. Arms reached through the portrait hole to pull Harry, Duncan and Ron inside, leaving Hermione to scramble in after them. **

"We were very impressed!"

"**Brilliant!" yelled Lee Jordan. "Inspired! What an entrance! Flying a car right into the Whomping Willow, people'll be talking about that one for years —" **

"**Good for you," said a fifth year Harry had never spoken to; someone was patting him on the back as though he'd just won a marathon; Fred and George pushed their way to the front of the crowd and said together, "Why couldn't we've come in the car, eh?"**

The twins snickered, clapping their hands in excitement.

**Ron was scarlet in the face, grinning embarrassedly, but Duncan could see one person who didn't look happy at all. Percy was visible over the heads of some excited first years, and he seemed to be trying to get near enough to start telling them off.**

"Typical." Said Fred darkly. Kenny patted his back

** Duncan nudged Ron in the ribs and nodded in Percy's direction. Ron got the point at once. **

"**Got to get upstairs — bit tired," he said, and the two of them started pushing their way toward the door on the other side of the room, which led to a spiral staircase and the dormitories. **

"'**Night," Harry called back to Hermione, who was wearing a scowl just like Percy's. **

**They managed to get to the other side of the common room, still having their backs slapped, and gained the peace of the staircase. They hurried up it, right to the top, and at last reached the door of their old dormitory, which now had a sign on it saying SECOND YEARS. They entered the familiar, circular room, with its six four-posters hung with red velvet and its high, narrow windows. Their trunks had been brought up for them and stood at the ends of their beds. **

**Ron grinned guiltily at Harry and Duncan. **

"**I know I shouldn't've enjoyed that or anything, but…" **

**The dormitory door flew open and in came the other second year Gryffindor boys, Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas, and Neville Longbottom. **

"**_Unbelievable_****!" beamed Seamus. **

"**Cool," said Dean. **

"**Amazing," said Neville, awestruck. Harry and Duncan couldn't help it. They grinned, too.**

"Anyone would've!" Kenny said, grinning. Nico smiled, before holding out the book. "Who would like to read next?"

"First we will have a break." said Dumbledore

* * *

**Review! Suggestions welcomed!**

**I'll always be,**

**Pop question: What do you think it's going to happen in the break?**

**H. E. B.**


	7. VERY IMPORTANT!

**Hey guys,**

**ONE**

**There's a poll in my profile, is just if you would like Harry to develop gradually a Kaiju form.**

**TWO, AND THIS IS THE IMPORTANT THING**

**It seems that my "Through Magic and Flames 2" story got put in this community called "Reportable Offense" and I don't understand what it does or what it is. It seems like my story is on a watchlist for some reason? And I don't know what the punishment (or whatever) is?**

**Like, I am going to get banned or something? Can I continue publishing chapters or this story safely? I am looking into it, but if you guys have some insight I'd appreciate it. You could message me (PM) or leave it on the reviews.**

**Your author,**

**H. E. B.**


	8. Break

**I am SO SORRY for the late update. Well, enjoy! Read and review please!**

* * *

Duncan grabbed Maggie and practically dragged her outside of the Hall, ignoring her questions. He himself didn't know what he was doing, what he would do.

He stopped, his face inches away from her.

"I have to tell you something…" he whispered

MAGGIE'S POV

**FEAR: A feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger.**

Maggie Kent was a determinate girl. She never backed away or showed fear in any circumstances. Well, it's said there's a first time for everything…

Just reading those books about her two best friends made her want to cling to Duncan and never let him go. She always knew what to do, she always knew herself…

But now…

She had always seen Duncan as her best friend, the one who would always be there for her, her savior in some ways. Could it be possible that she was falling for her best friend?

**FALLING FOR: To feel love for; be in love with.**

She stared into those deep, brown eyes. She thought of all the times when she saw him, she felt butterflies in her stomach. She thought of that feeling when he invited her to the Yule Ball, that warm, exiting feeling that she always had when she was with him. With a jolt she realized.

_I am in love with him. I love him._

The fact filled her with happiness, an overwhelming joy.

* * *

DUNCAN'S POV

He glanced at Maggie, his best friend. He didn't know why, but she made him feel ill. Ill in a good way, a wonderful way. When he saw her, his heartbeat increased so rapidly that it hurt. Her scent changed rapidly when she looked at him. The look in her eyes…_her so beautiful eyes_… He wanted that look to stay forever. He wanted her to be as happy as she was now. He wanted _her_.

_"What am I thinking? I want her? I'm not in love with her…am I?"_ he wondered. Some days before, he would have said no, but now…

The look in her eyes…the way she laughed…the new emotion, jealously in fourth year, when she told him Nico had invited her to the Yule Ball…

He wanted _her_. He _loved_ her. He always had and he always would.

It can be the world…truly perfect? To him, it was.

Until, he remembered.

_She doesn't know my secret…I can't tell her._

_What if she turns her back at me?_ He couldn't bear the thought. He remembered something else…

**When one male challenges and overthrows the Alpha, or in this case, the king, he kills all of the previous kings offspring and then takes the previous kings mate as his own." **His father's voice echoed in his mind.

The world seemed to freeze.

_I can't…_

_I can't tell her…_

_I love her…_

_But I can't._

Sure as hell he wouldn't do like his father did in the past, leave his wife and his newborn son. Those kinds of things are unforgettable. And now he was picturing a future with her…

It would tear him apart, he knew it. He would suffer. But if it was the price to keep Maggie safe, then so be it.

_We could be together._

_But we can't._

* * *

3RD PERSON POV

Maggie waited expectantly what her friend/crush would say to her.

"I…I just wanted to t-tell you…" he stammered

"Yes?" she asked, full of hope

"That I love that you are always there for me." He quickly lied. Maggie tried to hide her disappointment, while Duncan tried not to confess the truth at the sight of her hurt. He squeezed her hand and let go of her.

"We should get back to the Great Hall." Said Duncan in an emotionless voice. Maggie nodded automatically and followed him

"_Just remember that I love you. And I always will_."

* * *

Duncan and Maggie walked to the Great Hall, where they discovered some of their friends playing "Truth or Dare."

"Ok, Harry…" started Kenny with an evil smile. "Truth or dare?"

"Erm...dare." Said Harry

"All right, I dare you to kiss on the mouth to the most beautiful…" Harry smiled at Isabel. "…guy in here" finished Kenny with a smirk.

All the males in the Hall turned to him.

"_Oh dear. Oh dear dear dear_." Thought Duncan amused

"_Fred is really bad-influencing him_." Thought Isabel

"W-What?! I like girls!" shouted Harry.

"That's the point, Harry." Said Isabel a bit shocked. Harry then sighed. Before he could react, Harry kissed Duncan on the lips while Duncan was paralyzed, wide-eyed. When they broke apart Duncan seemed to be in shock.

"S-So…how was it?" asked Duncan warily. Harry gave him a "So so" sign.

"Should I feel offended?" asked Duncan to Maggie. She laughed.

"I-I can't believe your first kiss was with Harry!" she gasped between laughs.

"_I wanted it to be with y…WAIT WHAT I'M THINKING?!"_ thought Duncan shocked. He did NOT love Maggie. He couldn't. He couldn't.

"Anyway, let's pretend this never happened." Said Duncan uneasily.

"Agreed." Mused Harry

They went back to their seats as the people started to appear. Both Harry and Belloc looked at Duncan worriedly. His scent had changed to a bitter smell. Sadness, hurt, melancholy. Maggie's was something similar as well.

"They'll be fine." Tried to convince himself Harry.

But Duncan knew he wouldn't be. He would never be.

Maggie gasped quietly when she saw her hand. In the palm, just in the center, it was a crescent moon, silver and glowing, growing by the second.

* * *

**Another over! R&R please!**

**Ideas for the next chapter needed!**


	9. Gilderoy Lockhart

**I am SO SORRY for the late update. Well, enjoy! Read and review please!**

* * *

**GILDEROY LOCKHART" **read Ron, and then he groaned and looked at the ceiling. "Why Merlin this punishment? "What I have done to read the chapter of such an idiot?" Hermione giggled.

"Ronald! Language!" said Molly

**The next day, however, Harry and Duncan barely grinned once.**

"Why?" asked the twins

** Things started to go**

**downhill from breakfast in the Great Hall. The four long house tables**

**were laden with tureens of porridge, **

A few students gagged, remembering Vernon Dursley's face.

**plates of kippers, mountains of**

**toast, and dishes of eggs and bacon, **

"That doesn't sound so bad," Ron said as his stomach growled.

"Do you remember what happened at breakfast?" Harry asked and Ron paled.

"Never mind, this is bad, very, very bad."

**beneath the enchanted ceiling**

**(today, a dull, cloudy gray). Harry, Duncan and Ron sat down at the Gryffindor**

**table next to Hermione, who had her copy of Voyages with Vampires**

**propped open against a milk jug. There was a slight stiffness in the**

**way she said "Morning," which told Duncan that she was still**

**disapproving of the way they had arrived. **

"It was very dangerous" said Margaret

"Yeah, but still amazing." Grinned Fred

**Neville Longbottom, on the**

**other hand, greeted them cheerfully. Neville was a round-faced and**

**accident-prone boy with the worst memory of anyone Duncan had ever**

**met.**

"Sorry Nev"

"S'allright Dunc"

**"Mail's due any minute - I think Gran's sending a few things I forgot." Harry had only just started his porridge when, sure enough, there was**

**a rushing sound overhead and a hundred or so owls**

**streamed in, circling the hall and dropping letters and packages into the**

**chattering crowd. A big, lumpy package bounced off Neville's head**

**and, a second later, something large and gray fell into Hermione's jug,**

**spraying them all with milk and feathers.**

**"Enrol!" said Ron, pulling the bedraggled owl out by the feet. Errol**

**slumped, unconscious, onto the table, his legs in the air and a damp red**

**envelope in his beak.**

**"Oh, no -" Ron gasped.**

**"It's all right, he's still alive," said Hermione, prodding Errol gently with**

**the tip of her finger.**

**"It's not that - it's that."**

"You should be glad that your owl was alive." Luna said, fixing Ron with the sternest look any of them had ever seen from her.

**Ron was pointing at the red envelope. It looked quite ordinary to**

**Harry and Duncan, but Ron and Neville were both looking at it as though they**

**expected it to explode.**

Mrs. Weasley was smiling with grim satisfaction as she remembered sending that Howler quite clearly.

**"What's the matter?" said Harry.**

**"She's - she's sent me a Howler," said Ron faintly.**

**"You'd better open it, Ron," said Neville in a timid whisper. "It'll be**

**worse if you don't My gran sent me one once, and I ignored it and" -**

**he gulped - "it was horrible."**

When did she send you a Howler?" Ginny asked curiously.

"In first year when I got that detention," Neville mumbled and Harry and Hermione exchanged guilty glances.

**Harry and Duncan looked from their petrified faces to the red envelope.**

**"What's a Howler?" Duncan said.**

"Yeah, what's that?" asked Kenny

**But Ron's whole attention was fixed on the letter, which had begun to**

**smoke at the corners. "Open it," Neville urged. "It'll all be over in a few minutes -"**

**Ron stretched out a shaking hand, eased the envelope from Errol's**

**beak, and slit it open. Neville stuffed his fingers in his ears. A split**

**second later, Duncan knew why. He thought for a moment it had**

**exploded; a roar of sound fiIled the huge hall, shaking dust from the**

**ceiling.**

Those that had been in the hall that day winced in remembrance.

**"- STEALING THE CAR, I WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN SURPRISED IF THEY'D EXPELLED YOU, YOU WAIT TILL I GET**

**HOLD OF YOU, I DON'T SUPPOSE YOU STOPPED TO**

**THINK WHAT YOUR FATHERAND I WENT THROUGH WHEN**

**WE SAW IT WAS GONE -"**

**Mrs. Weasleys yells, a hundred times louder than usual, made the**

**plates and spoons rattle on the table, and echoed deafeningly off the**

**stone walls. People throughout the hall were swiveling around to see**

**who had received the Howler, and Ron sank so low in his chair that**

**only his crimson forehead could be seen.**

"Are you saying you send that to scold him in front of EVERYBODY?! No wonder he has low confidence! That's like social suicide!" said Margaret

**"- LETTER FROM DUMBLEDORE LAST NIGHT, I THOUGHT**

**YOUR FATHER WOULD DIE OF SHAME, WE DIDN'T BRING**

**YOU UP TO BEHAVE LIKE THIS, YOU, DUNCAN AND HARRY COULD**

**BOTH HAVE DIED -"**

"Ouch," Remus winced sympathetically. He remembered when Sirius had gotten a Howler on their second day for being in Gryffindor…and he thought that woman could scream, until he met Molly Weasley.

**Harry and Duncan had been wondering when their name was going to crop up. Harry**

**tried very hard to look as though he couldn't hear the voice that was**

**making his eardrums throb.**

**"-ABSOLUTELYDISGUSTED – YOUR FATHER'S FACING AN**

**INQUIRY AT WORK, IT'S ENTIRELY YOUR FAULT AND IF**

**YOU PUT ANOTHER TOE OUT OF LINE WE'LL BRING YOU**

**STRAIGHT BACK HOME."**

**A ringing silence fell. The red envelope, which had dropped from Ron's**

**hand, burst into flames and curled into ashes. Harry and Ron sat stunned, as though a tidal wave had just passed over them. A few**

**people laughed and, gradually, a babble of talk broke out again.**

"I am glad those doesn't exist in the Muggle world" mumbled Isabel

**Hermione closed Voyages with Vampires and looked down at the top**

**of Ron's head.**

**"Well, I don't know what you expected, Ron, but you -"**

**"Don't tell me I deserved it," snapped Ron.**

I wasn't going to." Hermione snapped back at him. "I was going to say you should have seen that coming."

**Harry pushed his porridge away. His insides were burning with guilt.**

**Mr. Weasley was facing an inquiry at work. After all Mr. and Mrs.**

**Weasley had done for him over the summer ...**

"It wasn't your fault Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

"But I agreed to take the car, so yes it partly was my fault." Harry argued, he wasn't going to let Ron take all the blame now that he had a chance to explain himself.

**"What did you said?" asked Duncan, who had his face twisted in pain.**

Belloc winced

**"That I didn't deserved it" Ron answered. Duncan frowned in confusion.**

**"What?"**

"What is wrong with you?" asked Margaret concerned

**Ron repeated his statement almost shouting.**

**"I can't hear you, all I hear is like a beep sound." Said Duncan, even more confused.**

"That damned letter caused him to go deaf?!" asked an irate Margaret, while Molly looked down in horror.

**Then Harry remembered: "Duncan's hearing his way more sensitive than the rest of us, so…"**

**"The Howler damaged his hearing?" asked Hermione worried**

**"I think so." Answered Harry**

**But he had no time to dwell on this; Professor McGonagall was**

**moving along the Gryffindor table, handing out course schedules.**

**Harry took his and saw that they had double Herbology with the**

**Hufepuffs first.**

**"Proffessor McGonnagall" started Harry. "I think my cousin's hearing has been damaged for the Howler. Can I accompany him to the hospital wing?" he asked. McGonagall tried to talk to Duncan, but seeing she got no response,**

Belloc winced even more

** she gave permission to Harry and Duncan to go to Madame Pomfrey. Ron and Hermione would tell Professor Sprout why the cousins were late.**

**Harry and Duncan left the Great Hall together, to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey talked a bit about the dangers of too loud Howlers, but made Duncan stand still so she could cast a spell which would repair his eardrums.**

**"Hurts?" asked Duncan without thinking.**

Hermione smiled fondly at him, and only then she noticed he almost hadn't spoken a single word, his eyes staring at the table.

**"You'll probably feel an itch, but nothing else." She muttered some words and Duncan clapped his hands over his ears.**

**"Ay, ay ay ay." Was the only thing he said, while waiting.**

"It did hurt" said Harry

**After the spell worked, Harry and Duncan left the castle together, crossed the**

**vegetable patch, and made for the greenhouses, where the magical**

**plants were kept. They weren't too late, Harry thought as they walked to Ron and Hermione. At least the Howler had done one good thing:**

**Hermione seemed to think they had now been punished enough (more than enough referring to Duncan) and was being perfectly friendly again.**

But of course, now that I know why you were really upset, I don't blame you," Harry told her, trying to avoid the glare she was giving him.

**As they neared the greenhouses they saw the rest of the class**

**standing outside, waiting for Professor Sprout. Harry, Duncan, Ron, and**

**Hermione had only just joined them when she came striding into view**

**across the lawn, accompanied by Gilderoy Lockhart. Professor**

**Sprout's arms were full of bandages, and with another twinge of guilt,**

**Duncan spotted the Whomping Willow in the distance, several of its**

**branches now in slings.**

"Don't feel sorry for that tree," Remus said with a shake of his head. "It deserved it."

"Now Mr. Lupin," Professor Sprout said warningly and Remus sighed.

**Professor Sprout was a squat little witch who wore a patched hat over**

**her flyaway hair; there was usually a large amount of earth on her**

**clothes and her fingernails would have made Aunt Petunia faint.**

The twins got the gleam in their eyes that would send normal people running and made Harry almost feel sorry for his aunt. Almost.

**Gilderoy Lockhart, however, was immaculate in sweeping robes of**

**turquoise, his golden hair shining under a perfectly positioned turquoise**

**hat with gold trimming.**

"Did you really have to notice everything?" Ron complained.

"Sorry."

**"Oh, hello there!" he called, beaming around at the assembled**

**students. "Just been showing Professor Sprout the right way to doctor**

**a Whomping Willow! But I don't want you running away with the idea**

**that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met**

**several of these exotic plants on my travels . . ."**

**Duncan just huffed in annoyance and Harry rolled his eyes, both thinking the guy was too bigheaded for his own good**

"Good." Belloc smiled, he wasn't liking that bloke very much either

**"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" said Professor Sprout, who was**

**looking distinctly disgruntled, not at all her usual cheerful self.**

"Imagine why" McGonagall said to Snape, who nodded

**There was a murmur of interest. They had only ever worked in**

**greenhouse one before - greenhouse three housed far more interesting**

**and dangerous plants. Professor Sprout took a large key from her belt**

**and unlocked the door. Duncan caught a whiff of damp earth and**

**fertilizer mingling with the heavy perfume of some giant, umbrellasized**

**flowers dangling from the ceiling. He was about to follow Ron, Duncan**

**and Hermione inside when Lockhart's hand shot out.**

Harry groaned. He had tried to forget this, along with any other Lockhart encounters.

**"Harry! I've been wanting a word…**

**"Actually, Professor, my cousin has been treated with a hearing spell, and Madame Pomfrey has told me to accompany him, as the process is really painful…" lied Harry trying to get a way out of there, missing Duncan's indignant scowl.**

"Traitor." Mused Duncan

** " It doesn't matter, he can wait outside with you!" Lockhart said, missing Harry's and Duncan's looks of surprise. **

Belloc groaned

**"You don't mind if they're a couple of**

**minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?"**

Yes I do." Professor Sprout said, frowning.

**Judging by Professor Sprout's scowl, she did mind, but Lockhart said,**

**"That's the ticket," and closed the greenhouse door in her face. Duncan moved besides his cousin, a look of revulsion in his eyes.**

**"Harry," said Lockhart, his large white teeth gleaming in the sunlight**

**as he shook his head. "Harry, Harry, Harry."**

"He know his name" said Isabel

**Completely nonplussed, Harry said nothing. Duncan raised an eyebrow**

**"When I heard -well, of course, it was all my fault. Could have kicked**

**myself."**

Please do!" Ron said all too enthusiastically.

**Harry had no idea what he was talking about. He was about to say so**

**when Lockhart went on, "Don't know when I've been more shocked.**

**Flying a car to Hogwarts! Well, of course, I knew at once why you'd**

**done it. Stood out a mile. Harry, Harry, Harry."**

**It was remarkable how he could show every one of those brilliant**

**teeth even when he wasn't talking.**

"His looks were his only talent, even at school." Remus said and he looked up at the table, half expecting to be reprimanded. But since most of the staff agreed with him, nothing was said.

**"Gave you a taste for publicity, didn't I?" said Lockhart. "Gave**

**you the bug. You got onto the front page of the paper with me and**

**you couldn't wait to do it again."**

**"Oh, no, Professor, see -" said Duncan**

**"Harry, Harry, Harry," said Lockhart, reaching out and grasping**

**his shoulder. Duncan's eyes blazed.**

As did Margaret's and Belloc's.

** "I understand. Natural to want a bit more once you've**

**had that first taste - and I blame myself for giving you that, be**

**cause it was bound to go to your head –**

Remus shook his head slightly. It was a good thing Harry was more like Lily than James, otherwise Lockhart would have been right.

** but see here, young man,**

**you can't start flying cars to try and get yourself noticed. Just calm**

**down, all right? Plenty of time for all that when you're older. Yes,**

**yes, I know what you're thinking! 'It's all right for him, he's an in**

**ternationally famous wizard already!' But when I was twelve, I was**

**just as much of a nobody as you are now. In fact, Id say I was even**

**more of a nobody!"**

Now that is true," Bill inputted.

**Duncan laughed internally. That idiot was calling a nobody to the-Boy-Who-Lived, and him, who had a creepy feeling he would be as "important" in the future.**

"That's it." Said Duncan suddenly. "I must have seer's blood."

** I mean, a few people have heard of you, haven't**

**they? **

A few people?" George repeated incredulously.

"Try the whole wizarding world!" Fred added.

**All that business with He- Who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" He**

**glanced at the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. "I know, I**

**know - it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most**

**Charming-Smile Award five times in a row, as I have - but it's a**

**start, Harry, it's a start."**

Is he being serious?" Ginny asked. "There's no way anyone can be that thick headed!"

"Oh believe me, he is, and much more." Duncan told her seriously.

**He gave Harry a hearty wink and strode off.**

**"What an idiot" said Duncan**

** Harry and Duncan stood stunned for a few seconds, then, remembering they were supposed to be in the greenhouse, they opened the door and slid inside.**

**Professor Sprout was standing behind a trestle bench in the cen**

**ter of the greenhouse. About twenty pairs of different-colored ear**

**muffs were lying on the bench. When Harry and Duncan had taken their place**

**between Ron and Hermione, she said, "We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me the properties of the Mandrake?"**

Oh! I wonder who can?" The twins began. "Hmm let's see…Hermione!"

**To nobody's surprise, Hermione's hand was first into the air.**

**"Mandrake, or Mandragora, is a powerful restorative," said Hermione,**

**sounding as usual as though she had swallowed the textbook. **

Duncan snorted, going slowly back to his usual self…or so it seemed

**"It is used to return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their**

**original state."**

**"Excellent. Ten points to Gryffindor," said Professor Sprout. "The**

**Mandrake forms an essential part of most antidotes. It is also,**

**however, dangerous. Who can tell me why?"**

**Hermione's hand narrowly missed Harry's glasses as it shot up again.**

Another snort

**"The cry of the Mandrake is fatal to anyone who hears it," she said**

**promptly. Duncan almost gave a loud moan of despair. First the Howler, now this? Why him?**

The people of the Hall either chuckled or gave him worried glances

**"Precisely. Take another ten points," said Professor Sprout. "Now, the**

**Mandrakes we have here are still very young."**

**She pointed to a row of deep trays as she spoke, and everyone**

**shuffled forward for a better look. A hundred or so tufty little plants,**

**purplish green in color, were growing there in rows. They looked quite**

**unremarkable to Harry, who didn't have the slightest idea what**

**Hermione meant by the "cry" of the Mandrake.**

**"Everyone take a pair of earmuffs," said Professor Sprout.**

**There was a scramble as everyone tried to seize a pair that wasn't**

**pink and fluffy.**

**"When I tell you to put them on, make sure your ears are completely**

**covered," said Professor Sprout. "When it is safe to remove them, I**

**will give you the thumbs-up. Right - earmuffs on."**

**Harry snapped the earmuffs over his ears.**

"Were they pink and fluffy?" George wondered.

"No." Harry said.

"Mine were," Neville admitted.

** They shut out sound**

**completely. Professor Sprout put the pink, fluffy pair over her own**

**ears, rolled up the sleeves of her robes, grasped one of the tufty plants**

**firmly, and pulled hard.**

**Harry let out a gasp of surprise that no one could hear.**

**Instead of roots, a small, muddy, and extremely ugly baby popped out**

**of the earth. The leaves were growing right out of his head. He had**

**pale green, mottled skin, and was clearly bawling at the top of his**

**lungs.**

The Muggles and the Kaiju had their mouths open

How do you know it was a boy?" Fred asked and Harry shrugged.  
"Lucky guess?"

**Professor Sprout took a large plant pot from under the table and**

**plunged the Mandrake into it, burying him in dark, damp compost until**

**only the tufted leaves were visible. Professor Sprout dusted off her**

**hands, gave them all the thumbs-up, and removed her own earmuffs.**

**"As our Mandrakes are only seedlings, their cries won't kill yet," she**

**said calmly as though she'd just done nothing more exciting than water**

**a begonia. "However, they will knock you out for several hours, and as**

**I'm sure none of you want to miss your first day back, make sure your**

**earmuffs are securely in place while you work. I will attract your**

**attention when it is time to pack up.**

"I don't know, mightn't have been that bad," Ron mumbled, clearly thinking about Lockhart's lesson.

**"Four to a tray - there is a large supply of pots here - compost in the**

**sacks over there - and be careful of the Venemous Tentacula, it's**

**teething."**

**She gave a sharp slap to a spiky, dark red plant as she spoke, making**

**it draw in the long feelers that had been inching sneakily over her**

**shoulder.**

**Harry, Ron, Hermione and a reluctant Duncan**

Maggie chuckled a bit, still staring at her silver moon

** were joined at their tray by a curly-haired**

**Hufflepuff boy Harry knew by sight but had never spoken to.**

**"Justin Finch-Fletchley," he said brightly, shaking Harry by the hand.**

**"Know who you are, of course, the famous Harry Potter and his chaser cousin Duncan Rosenblatt...**

"One of the best chasers the team has got!" said the twins in an attempt to cheer Duncan up

** And you're Hermione Granger - always top in everything"**

**(Hermione beamed as she had her hand shaken too) "- and Ron**

**Weasley. Wasn't that your flying car?"**

Of all the things to be known for…" Mrs. Weasley grumbled under her breath.

**Ron didn't smile. The Howler was obviously still on his mind.**

**"That Lockhart's something, isn't he?" said Justin happily as they**

**began fiIling their plant pots with dragon dung compost. "Awfully**

**brave chap. Have you read his books? Id have died of fear if Id been**

**cornered in a telephone booth by a werewolf, but he stayed cool and -**

**zap - just fantastic."**

"Oddly enough, he said that I was the best teacher and his personal favorite," Remus remarked coolly and Fred and George laughed.

Umbridge frowned. How anyone could say that a creature was a good teacher, let alone a favorite, was beyond her.

** Duncan and Harry raised an eyebrow completely synchronized**

"Is not a believable story" said Belloc under his breath

**"My name was down for Eton, you know.**

"Impressive," Margaret said, mildly surprised.

"What's Eton?" Mr. Weasley asked eagerly.

"It's a very good Muggle boarding school for boys," Hermione answered.

** I can't tell you how glad I**

**am I came here instead. Of course, Mother was slightly disappointed,**

**but since I made her read Lockhart's books I think she's begun to see**

**how useful it'll be to have a fully trained wizard in the family . . . ."**

**After that they didn't have much chance to talk. Their earmuffs were**

**back on and they needed to concentrate on the Mandrakes. Professor**

**Sprout had made it look extremely easy, but it wasn't. The Mandrakes**

**didn't like coming out of the earth, but didn't seem to want to go back**

**into it either. They squirmed, kicked, flailed their sharp little fists, and**

**gnashed their teeth; Harry spent ten whole minutes trying to squash a**

**particularly fat one into a pot.**

"You need to lure them in using soil and fertilizer," Neville said wisely and with a grin.

**By the end of the class, Harry, like everyone else, was sweaty,**

**aching, and covered in earth. Everyone traipsed back to the castle for**

**a quick wash and then the Gryffindors hurried off to Transfiguration.**

**Professor McGonagall's classes were always hard work, but today**

**was especially difficult. Everything Harry had learned last year**

**seemed to have leaked out of his head during the summer. **

We've tried that excuse," Fred told him

"But she never seems to believe us," George finished.

**He was**

**supposed to be turning a beetle into a button, but all he manage**

**to do was give his beetle a lot of exercise as it scuttled over the**

**desktop avoiding his wand.**

**Ron was having far worse problems. He had patched up his wand**

**with some borrowed Spellotape, but it seemed to be damaged beyond**

**repair. It kept crackling and sparking at odd moments, and every time**

**Ron tried to transfigure his beetle it engulfed him in thick gray smoke**

**that smelled of rotten eggs.**

"That really did smell bad," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.

"Tell me about it" Duncan told her.

** Unable to see what he was doing, Ron**

**accidentally squashed his beetle with his elbow and had to ask for a**

**new one. Professor McGonagall wasn't pleased.**

**Harry was relieved to hear the lunch bell. His brain felt like a wrung**

**sponge. Everyone fiIed out of the classroom except him and Ron, who**

**was whacking his wand furiously on the desk.**

**"Stupid - useless - thing -"**

**"Write home for another one," Duncan suggested as the wand let off a**

**volley of bangs like a firecracker.**

**"Oh, yeah, and get another Howler back," said Ron, stuffing the now**

**hissing wand into his bag. " `It's your own fault your wand got snapped –**

"I wouldn't have said that," Mrs. Weasley frowned.

**They went down to lunch, where Ron's mood was not improved by**

**Hermione's showing them the handful of perfect coat buttons she had**

**produced in Transfiguration and Duncan showed the only bottom he had produced.**

"At least it's something" sighed Belloc

**"What've we got this afternoon?" said Harry, hastily changing the**

**subject.**

**"Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Hermione at once.**

**"Why, "laughed Duncan, seizing her schedule, "have you outlined all**

**Lockhart's lessons in little hearts?"**

Fred, George, Kenny and Remus were all staring at Hermione. "Please tell us you didn't actually like that git?" Fred told her, his hesitancy making it sound like a question. Hermione didn't say anything, but her blush provided all the answer that was needed.

**Hermione snatched the schedule back, blushing furiously.**

**They finished lunch and went outside into the overcast courtyard.**

**Hermione sat down on a stone step and buried her nose in Voyages**

**with Vampires again. Harry, Duncan and Ron stood talking about Quidditch for**

**several minutes before Harry became aware that he was being closely**

**watched. Looking up, he saw the very small, mousy-haired boy he'd**

**seen trying on the Sorting Hat last night staring at Harry as though**

**transfixed.**

"Aww your first stalker!" George sighed happily.

"They grow up so fast!" Fred said, wiping a few tears out of his eyes that could have been from holding in his laughter.

** He was clutching what looked like an ordinary Muggle**

**camera, and the moment Harry looked at him, he went bright red.**

**"Take a picture, it last longer" snorted Duncan without malice, who had been watching the boy staring at Harry.**

Isabel, Hermione and Maggie chuckled

**"That's exactly what I want to do. I'm -I'm Colin Creevey," he said breathlessly, taking**

**a tentative step forward. "I'm in Gryffindor, too. D'you think - would it**

**be all right if - can I have a picture?" he said, raising the camera**

**hopefully. **

He was that excited back then as well?" Remus wondered and Harry groaned.

"You have no idea."

**Duncan's eyebrows went to the hairline**

**"A picture?" Harry repeated blankly.**

**"So I can prove I've met you," said Colin Creevey eagerly, edging**

**further forward. "I know all about you. Everyone's told me. About**

**how you survived when You-Know-Who tried to kill you and how he**

**disappeared and everything and how you've still got a lightning scar on**

**your forehead" (his eyes raked Harry's hairline) "and a boy in my**

**dormitory said if I develop the film in the right potion, the pictures'll**

**move." Colin drew a great shuddering breath of excitement and said,**

**"It's amazing here, isn't it? I never knew all the odd stuff I could do**

**was magic till I got the letter from Hogwarts. My dad's a milkman, he**

**couldn't believe it either. So I'm taking loads of pictures to send home**

**to him. **

"That's so sweet." Margaret cooed as Colin blushed

**And it'd be really good if I had one of you" - he looked**

**imploringly at Harry - "maybe your friend could take it and I could**

**stand next to you? And then, could you sign it?"**

"I think he's worse than you Hermione," Ron said in amazement.

"Oh thank you Ronald." Hermione snapped and Ron looked at Harry and mouthed 'What did I say?' Harry just shook his head wearily.

**"Signed photos? You're giving out signed photos, Potter?"**

**Loud and scathing, Draco Malfoy's voice echoed around the**

**courtyard. He had stopped right behind Colin, flanked, as he always**

**was at Hogwarts, by his large and thuggish cronies, Crabbe and**

**Goyle.**

Margaret and Belloc groaned

**"Everyone line up!" Malfoy roared to the crowd. "Harry Potter's**

**giving out signed photos!"**

**"And I'll be the first in the line, because I admire you, Potter" roared Duncan, in a perfect imitation of Malfoy.**

Cue laughs

** Ron and Hermione laughed**

**"No, I'm not," said Harry angrily, his fists clenching. "Shut up,**

**Malfoy."**

**"You're just jealous," piped up Colin, whose entire body was about**

**as thick as Crabbe's neck.**

"Gryffindor bravery right here" said Jenna

**`jealous?"said Malfoy, who didn't need to shout anymore: half the**

**courtyard was listening in. "Of what? I don't want a foul scar right**

**across my head, thanks. I don't think getting your head cut open**

**makes you that special, myself."**

**Crabbe and Goyle were sniggering stupidly.**

**"I take it back, I would love to have a scar so I could be as famous as you" Duncan continued his imitation.**

Cue more laughs

**"Eat slugs, Malfoy," said Ron angrily. Crabbe stopped laughing and**

**started rubbing his knuckles in a menacing way.**

**"Be careful, Weasley," sneered Malfoy. "You don't want to start any**

**trouble or your Mommy'll have to come and take you away from**

**school." He put on a shrill, piercing voice. "Ifyou put another toe**

**out of line' - "**

Molly blushed, she didn't mean to embarrass Ron

Seeing this, Ron took advantage of the situation. "Mum, if I ever do something Howler worthy again, could you do me the favor and just yell at me when I come home instead of embarrassing me in front of the whole school?"

Mrs. Weasley nodded humbly and Ron leaned back, pleased.

"You do realize that half of what we do is Howler worthy?" Duncan leaned in to say it quietly and Ron paled.

**A knot of Slytherin fifth-years nearby laughed loudly at this.**

**"Weasley would like a signed photo, Potter," smirked Malfoy. "It'd**

**be worth more than his family's whole house -"**

"Why that…that…" Charlie trailed off as the whole Weasley children had their wands pointing at Malfoy

**Ron whipped out his Spellotaped wand, but Hermione shut Voyages**

**with Vampires with a snap and whispered, "Look out!"**

"Let me guess Snape?" Neville wondered but Harry shook his head.

**"What's all this, what's all this?" Gilderoy Lockhart was striding**

**toward them, his turquoise robes swirling behind him. **

"Oh, God, why?" sighed Isabel

**"Who's giving out signed photos?"**

"Of course that would be the only thing he heard" sighed Seamus

**Harry started to speak but he was cut short as Lockhart flung an**

**arm around his shoulders and thundered jovially, "Shouldn't have**

**asked! We meet again, Harry!"**

**Pinned to Lockhart's side and burning with humiliation, Harry**

**saw Malfoy slide smirking back into the crowd.**

**"Come on then, Mr. Creevey," said Lockhart, beaming at Colin.**

**"A double portrait, can't do better than that, and we'll both sign it**

**for you."**

**Colin fumbled for his camera and took the picture as the bell**

**rang behind them, signaling the start of afternoon classes.**

**"Off you go, move along there," Lockhart called to the crowd,**

**and he set off back to the castle with Harry, who was wishing he**

**knew a good Vanishing Spell, still clasped to his side.**

**"A word to the wise, Harry," said Lockhart paternally**

"Paternally?!" snarled Remus and Belloc

** as they**

**entered the building through a side door. "I covered up for you**

**back there with young Creevey - if he was photographing me,**

**too, your schoolmates won't think you're setting yourself up so**

**much . . . ."**

"Does he really think you like your fame?" Ginny asked angrily.

"You'd be amazed at how many people think I like being famous for my parents murder and something I can't even remember," Harry said darkly, glaring at Snape.

"Bigheaded, arrogant, git." Muttered Margaret

**Deaf to Harry's stammers, Lockhart swept him down a corridor**

**lined with staring students and up a staircase.**

**"Let me just say that handing out signed pictures at this stage of**

**your career isn't sensible - looks a tad bigheaded,**

"Did he just call himself bigheaded?" Ron asked, blinking.

George shook his head. "Of course he didn't Ron!"

"Yeah, it's only at this stage of Harry's career!" Fred agreed.

** Harry, to be**

**frank. There may well come a time when, like me, you'll need to**

**keep a stack handy wherever you go, but" - he gave a little chor**

**tle - "I don't think you're quite there yet."**

Cue eye rolls

**They had reached Lockhart's classroom and he let Harry go at**

**last. Harry yanked his robes straight and headed for a seat at the very**

**back of the class, where he busied himself with piling all seven of**

**Lockhart's books in front of him, so that he could avoid looking at the**

**real thing.**

**The rest of the class came clattering in, and Ron, Duncan and Hermione sat**

**down on either side of Harry, Duncan imitating his cousin, building a tower of books in front of him**

**"You could've fried an egg on your face" said Ron. "You'd better hope**

**Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter fan**

**club."**

Ginny blushed a vibrant red and glared at her brother, looking very much like her mother.

**"Shut up," snapped Duncan. The last thing he needed was for Lockhart**

**to hear the phrase "Harry Potter fan club."**

**When the whole class was seated, Lockhart cleared his throat loudly**

**and silence fell. He reached forward, picked up Neville Longbottom's**

**copy of Travels with Trolls, and held it up to show his own, winking**

**portrait on the front.**

**"Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart,**

**Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force**

**Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-**

**Charming-Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of**

**the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"**

"Self-obsessed git," Belloc grumbled and Harry sniggered.

**He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly.**

**"I see you've all bought a complete set of my books -well done. I**

**thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about**

**just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in -"**

**When he had handed out the test papers he returned to the front of**

**the class and said, "You have thirty minutes - start - now!"**

**Harry looked down at his paper and read:**

**1. ****What is Gilderoy Lockhart 's favorite color?**

"Please kill me now" moaned Margaret

"Let me guess…pink!" said Dean

**2. ****What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?**

"To finally have a boyfriend" said Kenny

**3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest**

**achievement to date?**

"Breath." Said Duncan shortly

**3. ****What is Gilderoy Lockhart opinion of the Kaiju, who are in Germany?**

"WHAT?!" roared Belloc, Margaret and Isabel. Duncan finally started laughing

**"Allright, that's just offensive" thought Duncan angrily, while Harry's eyes were blazing**

"Completely agreed" they fumed

**On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:**

**54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his**

**ideal gift be?**

**Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through**

**them in front of the class.**

**"Tut, tut - hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is**

**lilac.**

"He has to be gay." Mused George, not noticing Kenny's tensed look

** I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read**

**Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully - I clearly state in chapter**

**twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all**

**magic and non-magic peoples - though I wouldn't say no to a large**

**bottle of Ogdeds Old Firewhisky!"**

**He gave them another roguish wink. Ron and Duncan was now staring at**

**Lockhart with an expression of disbelief on his face; Seamus**

**Finnigan and Dean Thomas, who were sitting in front, were shaking**

**with silent laughter. Hermione, on the other hand, was listening to**

**Lockhart with rapt attention and gave a start when he mentioned her**

**name.**

**". . . but Miss Hermione Granger knew my secret ambition is to rid the**

**world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions - good**

**girl! In fact" - he flipped her paper over - "full marks! Where is Miss**

**Hermione Granger?"**

**Hermione raised a trembling hand.**

**"Excellent!" beamed Lockhart. "Quite excellent! Take ten points for**

**Gryffindor!"**

**"Professor Lockhart, you mentioned "Kaiju" in your quiz…" Duncan's head perked up and stared at Hermione. "But those things don't exist…"**

Duncan, Harry, Kenny, Jenna, Isabel, Belloc and Margaret all started to laugh

**She was interrupted by an outburst of laughter by Duncan and Harry. The class looked scandalized.**

**"H-H-Hermione…do-doesn't know about…" more laughter. "In America are…are VERY real, I assure you…" gasped Duncan between laughs**

**"H-He thought…Germany!" said Harry before collapse into a fit of sniggers **

"Agreed." Gasped Jenna

"So…what are Kaiju exactly?" asked Neville

"End of fourth year." Said Duncan

**"I have encountered a few of these creatures myself…" said Lockhart sternly, ignoring the Evans' louder laughter. "And I assure you, they are terrifying creatures.**

"Agreed." Mused Duncan

** And so - to business -"**

**"That could have said a five-year-old child" whispered Duncan to Harry**

**He bent down behind his desk and lifted a large, covered cage onto it.**

**"Now - be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest**

**creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your**

**worst fears in this room.**

"Nope, that was in third year!" Duncan and Harry said

** Know only that no harm can befall you whilst**

**I am here. All I ask is that you remain calm."**

**In spite of himself, Harry leaned around his pile of books for a better**

**look at the cage. Lockhart placed a hand on the cover. Duncan and him had stopped laughing now. Neville was cowering in his front row seat.**

**"I must ask you not to scream," said Lockhart in a low voice. "It might**

**provoke them."**

**As the whole class held its breath, Lockhart whipped off the cover.**

**"Yes," he said dramatically. "Freshly caught Cornish pixies. "**

Several people burst out laughing. "Pixies?" Fred laughed. "He…called pixies…dangerous?" He gasped.

"Gnomes…would be…worse," George agreed, bent double from laughing.

**Seamus Finnigan couldn't control himself. He let out a snort of**

**laughter that even Lockhart couldn't mistake for a scream of terror.**

**"Yes?" He smiled at Seamus.**

**"Well, they're not - they're not very - dangerous, are they?" Seamus**

**choked.**

**"Don't be so sure!" said Lockhart, waggling a finger annoyingly at**

**Seamus. "Devilish tricky little blighters they can be!"**

**The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed**

**faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies**

**arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they**

**had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and**

**making bizarre faces at the people nearest them.**

"One just kept staring at me," Neville said.

**"Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of**

**them!" And he opened the cage.**

He let loose a cage of pixies in a classroom without telling you how to stop them?" McGonagall asked.

"Are you really that surprised?" Snape drawled. "As Lupin pointed out, Lockhart was an idiot even back during his school days."

"Are you actually agreeing with me Severus?" Remus asked in mild amusement.

"No."

**It was pandemonium. **

"Pixie pandemonium?" The twins echoed and Harry nodded warily. "Brilliant!"

**The pixies shot in every direction like rockets.**

**Two of them seized Neville by the ears and lifted him into the air.**

Were you all right?" Luna asked Neville, who seemed surprised by her concern.

"Er…yeah I was," he answered, blushing.

**Several shot straight through the window, showering the back row**

**with broken glass. The rest proceeded to wreck the classroom more**

**effectively than a rampaging rhino. They grabbed ink bottles and**

**sprayed the class with them, shredded books and papers, tore pictures**

**from the walls, up-ended the waste basket, grabbed bags and books**

**and threw them out of the smashed window; within minutes, half the**

**class was sheltering under desks and Neville was swinging from the**

**iron chandelier in the ceiling.**

**"Come on now - round them up, round them up, they're only pixies,"**

**Lockhart shouted.**

**He rolled up his sleeves, brandished his wand, and bellowed,**

**"Peskipiksi Pesternomi!"**

"That's not a spell!" grumbled Lucius Malfoy

**It had absolutely no effect; one of the pixies seized his wand and**

**threw it out of the window, too. Lockhart gulped and dived under his**

**own desk, narrowly avoiding being squashed by Neville, who fell a**

**second later as the chandelier gave way.**

I was fine!" Neville quickly said. "Somehow the floor wasn't that hard."

**The bell rang and there was a mad rush toward the exit. In the relative**

**calm that followed, Lockhart straightened up, caught sight of Harry, Duncan,**

**Ron, and Hermione, who were almost at the door, and said, "Well, I'll**

**ask you three to just nip the rest of them back into their cage." He**

**swept past them and shut the door quickly behind him.**

"He made four students take care of the creatures he let loose?" McGonagall inquired, shaking her head.

**"Can you believe him?" roared Duncan as one of the remaining pixies bit**

**him painfully on the ear.**

"A lot of ears were mentioned in this chapter," Luna mused aloud.

**"He just wants to give us some hands-on experience," said Hermione,**

**immobilizing two pixies at once with a clever Freezing Charm and**

**stuffing them back into their cage.**

Hands on?" Belloc asked her.

**"Hands on? "said Harry,**

"Thanks Harry!"

** who was trying to grab a pixie dancing out of**

**reach with its tongue out. "Hermione, he didn't have a clue what he**

**was doing -"**

**"Rubbish," said Hermione. "You've read his books - look at all those**

**amazing things he's done -"**

**"He says he's done," Ron muttered.**

"Good point" mused Margaret

"That's the end of the chapter" said Ron. When he finished saying this, both Harry and Belloc turned to his side to look at Duncan.

"What's the matter with you?"

* * *

**Another over! R&R please!**

**Pop question: Sincé the mayority of the voters of the Poll say "YES" Harry will develop a Kaiju form. Can you help me with how he will look like?**

**And also: Would you like this series to be a Hermione/Ron, or a Hermione/Nico?**

**Finally: What would you like to happen between Duncan and Maggie?**


	10. Mudbloods and Murmurs

**Hey, I need REVIEWS, there's a poll referring to Hermione/Ron-Nico and also, I NEED SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HARRY'S KAIJU FORM**

**enjoy!**

* * *

"What's the matter?" they asked at the same time. Duncan stiffed.

"Why do you think there's something wrong?" he said evasively

"Your face, your smell, the fact that you have been almost mute the last chapter…Tell me, what happened?" asked Belloc.

"Later, allright?" Duncan sighed. Harry frowned

_"We'll DEFINITELY talk later"_

"**Chapter Seven: Mudbloods and Murmurs**" Mrs. Weasley read and the temperature in the room dropped about ten degrees. Suddenly, everyone was on the edge of their seat except for Hermione.

**Harry and Duncan spent a lot of time over the next few days dodging out of sight whenever he saw Gilderoy Lockhart coming down a corridor. Harder to avoid was Colin Creevey, who seemed to have memorized Harry's schedule.**

Belloc stared at Colin, who promptly blushed

**Nothing seemed to give Colin a bigger thrill than to say, "All right, Harry?" six or seven times a day and hear, "Hello, Colin," back, however exasperated Harry sounded when he said it.**  
**Hedwig and Finem were still angry with Harry and Duncan about the disastrous car journey**

"I don't blame them," Luna sniffed.

**and Ron's wand was still malfunctioning, surpassing itself on Friday morning by shooting out of Ron's hand in Charms and hitting tiny old Professor Flitwick squarely between the eyes, creating a large, throbbing green boil where it had struck.**

"Sorry Professor," Ron apologized as Flitwick gingerly rubbed the spot where he had been hit.

"Quite all right Mr. Weasley." Flitwick told him, returning his attention to the book.

**So with one thing and another, Harry and Duncan were quite glad to reach the weekend. Them, Ron, and Hermione were planning to visit Hagrid on Saturday morning. Harry, however, was shaken awake several hours earlier than he would have liked by Oliver Wood, Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team.**  
**"Whassamatter?" said Harry groggily.**  
**"Quidditch practice!" said Wood. "Come on!"**

"Isn't it a bit early?" Kenny asked, and the Quidditch players rolled their eyes.

"To the normal person it was," Harry agreed. "But Oliver wasn't normal."

**Harry squinted at the window. There was a thin mist hanging across the pink-and-gold sky. Now that he was awake, he couldn't understand how he could have slept through the racket the birds were making.**  
**"Oliver," Harry croaked. "It's the crack of dawn."**  
**"Exactly," said Wood. He was a tall and burly sixth year and, at the moment, his eyes were gleaming with a crazed enthusiasm. "It's part of our new training program. Come on, grab your broom, and let's go," said Wood heartily. "None of the other teams have started training yet;**

"Perhaps because the season hasn't even come close to starting yet?" Rosezelene wondered sarcastically.

**we're going to be first off the mark this year-"**  
**After a good fifteen minutes of trying to shake Duncan to the land of living,**

"Key word being 'trying'" snickered Harry. Duncan grumbled, he hated getting up early

** Wood put a Silencing spell on him, and awoke him with an Aguamenti.**

More grumbling for Duncan as the Hall laughed.

"Not funny!" he snapped

"I'm so using this when I can't wake you" said Margaret.

"You can't use magic." Said Duncan relieved

"I can." Retorted Belloc. Duncan groaned

** Duncan looked quite ready to murder Wood.**

"Can't blame you." Maggie smiled at him. Duncan felt himself blush and looked away, trying to ignore the heat in his chest as well. Maggie felt a hot sensation in her hand. It was just her imagination, or the moon had just grown a little?

Duncan felt like Peeta from The Hunger Games. The tragic lovers...he hoped there was a posibility to them to have a happy ending

** Yawning and shivering slightly, Harry and Duncan climbed out of bed and tried to find his Quidditch robes.**  
**"Good men," said Wood. "Meet you on the field in fifteen minutes."**  
**When they'd found their scarlet team robes and pulled on their cloak for warmth, Harry scribbled a note to Ron explaining where he'd gone and went down the spiral staircase to the common room, their Nimbus Two Thousands on their shoulders. They had just reached the portrait hole when there was a clatter behind them and Colin Creevey came dashing down the spiral staircase, his camera swinging madly around his neck and something clutched in his hand.**  
**"I heard someone saying your name on the stairs, Harry! Look what I've got here! I've had it developed, I wanted to show you-"**  
**Harry looked bemusedly at the photograph Colin was brandishing under his nose.**  
**A moving, black-and-white Lockhart was tugging hard on an arm Harry recognized as his own. He and Duncan were pleased to see that his photographic self was putting up a good fight and refusing to be dragged into view. As Harry watched, Lockhart gave up and slumped, panting, against the white edge of the picture.**  
**"Will you sign it?" said Colin eagerly.**  
**"No," said Harry flatly, glancing around to check that the room was really deserted. "Sorry, Colin, we're in a hurry - Quidditch practice-"**

"Wrong thing to say," Dean said shaking his head.

"No matter what I would have said, he would have followed me," Harry pointed out.

**He climbed through the portrait hole.**  
**"Oh, wow! Wait for me! I've never watched a Quidditch game before!"**  
**Colin scrambled through the hole after him.**  
**"It'll be really boring," Duncan said quickly, but Colin ignored him, his face shining with excitement.**  
**"You were the youngest House players in a hundred years, weren't you, guys? Weren't you?" said Colin, trotting alongside them. "You must be brilliant." Duncan smiled. "I've never flown. Is it easy? Is that your own broom? Is that the best one there is?"**  
**"It depends, yes, and yes." Smiled Duncan.**

"You must have the patience of a saint." Said Kass

"My cousin? Are you kidding?" asked Harry. Duncan scowled

**Harry didn't know how to get rid of him. It was like having an extremely talkative shadow.**  
**"I don't really understand Quidditch," said Colin breathlessly. "Is it true there are four balls? And two of them fly around trying to knock people off their brooms?"**  
**"Yes," said Duncan heavily, resigned to explaining the complicated rules of Quidditch.**

"They're not complicated!" The twins protested.

"At six in the morning they are!" Duncan protested and after much thought, they agreed that he was right.

**"They're called Bludgers. There are two Beaters on each team who carry clubs to beat the Bludgers away from their side. Fred and George Weasley are the Gryffindor Beaters."**  
**"And what are the other balls for?" Colin asked, tripping down a couple of steps because he was gazing open-mouthed at Duncan now.**  
**"Well, the Quaffle - that's the biggish red one - is the one that scores goals. Three Chasers, like me, on each team throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through the goal posts at the end of the pitch - they're three long poles with hoops on the end."**  
**"And the fourth ball-"**  
**"- is the Golden Snitch," interrupted Harry, "and it's very small, very fast, and difficult to catch. But that's what the Seeker's got to do, because a game of Quidditch doesn't end until the Snitch has been caught. And whichever team's Seeker gets the Snitch earns his team an extra hundred and fifty points."**  
**"And you're the Gryffindor Seeker, aren't you?" said Colin in awe.**  
**"Yes," said Harry as they left the castle and started across the dew-drenched grass. "And there's the Keeper, too. He guards the goal posts. That's it, really."**

"So how many questions did he ask you?" Hermione wondered.

"I don't know, I think I fell asleep at some point and was sleep talking to him," Duncan shrugged.

**But Colin didn't stop questioning Harry and Duncan all the way down the sloping lawns to the Quidditch field, and the Evans only shook him off when he reached the changing rooms; Colin called after him in a piping voice, "I'll go and get a good seat, guys!" and hurried off to the stands.**  
**The rest of the Gryffindor team were already in the changing room. Wood was the only person who looked truly awake. Fred and George Weasley were sitting, puffy-eyed and touslehaired,**

"But still handsome," Fred added.

"The most handsome blokes on the team," George agreed.

**next to fourth year Alicia Spinnet, who seemed to be nodding off against the wall behind her. Her fellow Chasers, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, were yawning side by side opposite them.**  
**"There you are, Harry, Duncan, what kept you?" said Wood briskly.**

**"It was a boy-" Wood cut Duncan off.**

**"**At least let him explain!" said Margaret

** "Now, I wanted a quick talk with you all before we actually get onto the field, because I spent the summer devising a whole new training program, which I really think will make all the difference..."**  
**Wood was holding up a large diagram of a Quidditch field, on which were drawn many lines, arrows, and crosses in different colored inks. He took out his wand, tapped the board, and the arrows began to wiggle over the diagram like caterpillars. As Wood launched into a speech about his new tactics, Duncan's head drooped right onto Harry's shoulder and he began to sleep.**

"I do not!" Duncan protested much to his cousin's amusement.

**The first board took nearly twenty minutes to explain, but there was another board under that, and a third under that one.**

"Doesn't he do anything besides practice over the holidays?" Ginny asked, amazed that someone could be that obsessed with Quidditch.

"I doubt it." George told her.

**Harry sank into a stupor as Wood droned on and on.**  
**"So," said Wood, at long last, jerking Harry from a wistful fantasy about what he could be eating for breakfast at this very moment up at the castle. "Is that clear? Any questions?"**  
**"I've got a question, Oliver," said Duncan, who had woken with a start. "Why couldn't you have told us all this yesterday when we were awake?"**

Maggie and Kenny snickered.

**Wood wasn't pleased.**

"Obviously." Said Belloc, his son could be downright cheeky when he wanted to be.

**"Now, listen here, you lot," he said, glowering at them all. "We should have won the Quidditch cup last year. We're easily the best team. But unfortunately - owing to circumstances beyond our control-"**  
**Harry and Duncan shifted guiltily in their seat. They had been unconscious in the hospital wing for the final match of the previous year, meaning that Gryffindor had been a player short and had suffered their worst defeat in three hundred years.**

"You shouldn't have felt guilty about that!" Hermione exploded. "You stopped Voldemort from returning to power!"

"Yeah, but I also caused Gryffindor to lose the Cup," Harry said reasonably.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys," she grumbled.

**Wood took a moment to regain control of himself. Their last defeat was clearly still torturing him.**

"Not as bad as that year did," Duncan said remembering Wood's face when Quidditch was canceled.

**"So this year, we train harder than ever before... Okay, let's go and put our new theories into practice!" Wood shouted, seizing his broomstick and leading the way out of the locker rooms. Stiff-legged and still yawning, his team followed.**  
**They had been in the locker room so long that the sun was up completely now, although remnants of mist hung over the grass in the stadium. As Harry walked onto the field, he saw Ron and Hermione sitting in the stands.**  
**"Aren't you finished yet?" called Ron incredulously.**  
**"Haven't even started," said Duncan, looking jealously at the toast and marmalade Ron and Hermione had brought out of the Great Hall.**

"Had we known you were going to be that long we would have brought you something else," Hermione said thoughtfully.

**"Wood's been teaching us new moves."**  
**He mounted his broomstick and kicked at the ground, soaring up into the air. The cool morning air whipped his face, waking him far more effectively than Wood's long talk. It felt wonderful to be back on the Quidditch field. He soared right around the stadium at full speed, racing Fred and George.**  
**"What's that funny clicking noise?" called Fred as they hurtled around the corner.**

"Take two guesses," Harry sighed.

"Hmm…Malfoy's shiny shoes?" Fred asked jokingly.

"Of course not! It's Snape using echolocation idiot!" George corrected softly so that his mother wouldn't hear him.

**Duncan looked into the stands. Colin was sitting in one of the highest seats, his camera raised, taking picture after picture, the sound strangely magnified in the deserted stadium.**  
**"Look this way, guys! This way!" he cried shrilly.**  
**"Who's that?" said Fred.**  
**"No idea," Harry lied, putting on a spurt of speed that took him as far away as possible from Colin.**  
**"What's going on?" said Wood, frowning, as he skimmed through the air toward them. "Why's that first year taking pictures? I don't like it. He could be a Slytherin spy, trying to find out about our new training program."**

"He really is paranoid." Neville stated in surprise.

"Trust us Neville, he only gets worse as the season goes on," most of the team said.

**"He's in Gryffindor," said Harry quickly.**  
**"And the Slytherins don't need a spy, Oliver," said George.**  
**"What makes you say that?" said Wood testily.**

"They're there aren't they?" Remus asked, making it sound more like a statement than a question.

**"Because they're here in person," said George, pointing.**  
**Several people in green robes were walking onto the field, broomsticks in their hands.**  
**"I don't believe it!" Wood hissed in outrage. "I booked the field for today! We'll see about this!"**  
**Wood shot toward the ground, landing rather harder than he meant to in his anger, staggering slightly as he dismounted. Harry, Duncan, Fred, and George followed.**  
**"Flint!" Wood bellowed at the Slytherin Captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"**  
**Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He had a look of trollish cunning on his face as he replied, "Plenty of room for all of us, Wood."**  
**Angelina and Alicia had come over, too. There were no girls on the Slytherin team, who stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the Gryffindors, leering to a man.**  
**"But I booked the field!" said Wood, positively spitting with rage. "I booked it!"**  
**"Ah," said Flint. "But I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape. I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker'. "**

"Because he needs all the training possible," Duncan said lightly and everyone laughed.

Snape just glared down at them tight lipped. Draco did turn out to be a very disappointing Seeker.

**"You've got a new Seeker?" said Wood, distracted. "Where?"**  
**And from behind the six large figures before them came a seventh, smaller boy, smirking all over his pale, pointed face. It was Draco Malfoy.**  
**"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" said Fred, looking at Malfoy with dislike.**  
**"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint as the whole Slytherin team smiled still more broadly. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team."**  
**All seven of them held out their broomsticks. Seven highly polished, brand-new handles and seven sets of fine gold lettering spelling the words Nimbus Two Thousand and One gleamed under the Gryffindors' noses in the early morning sun.**

"So Lucius bribed his son on to the team. Why am I not surprised?" Belloc muttered.

"Because it's the Malfoys and the only way they get anywhere in by bribery." Harry replied instantly and Fudge shifted uncomfortably. The Malfoys glared at them.

**"Very latest model. Only came out last month," said Flint carelessly, flicking a speck of dust from the end of his own. "I believe it outstrips the old Two Thousand series by a considerable amount. As for the old Cleansweeps" - he smiled nastily at Fred and George, who were both clutching Cleansweep Fives -" sweeps the board with them."**  
**None of the Gryffindor team could think of anything to say for a moment. Malfoy was smirking so broadly his cold eyes were reduced to slits.**  
**"Oh, look," said Flint. "A field invasion."**  
**Ron and Hermione were crossing the grass to see what was going on.**  
**"What's happening?" Ron asked Harry. "Why aren't you playing? And what's he doing here?"**  
**He was looking at Malfoy, taking in his Slytherin Quidditch robes.**  
**"I'm the new Slytherin Seeker, Weasley," said Malfoy, smugly. "Everyone's just been admiring the brooms my father's bought our team."**  
**Ron gaped, open-mouthed, at the seven superb broomsticks in front of him. Duncan nudged him. "They want you to be impressed." Whispered him. Ron looked oblivious at the brooms.**

"Good." Said Kenny

**"Good, aren't they?" said Malfoy smoothly. "But perhaps the Gryffindor team will be able to raise some gold and get new brooms, too.**

"Don't need them since we beat you anyway," Fred laughed.

**You could raffle off those Cleansweep Fives; I expect a museum would bid for them."**  
**The Slytherin team howled with laughter.**  
**"At least no one on the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," said Hermione sharply. "They got in on pure talent."**

"You tell him Hermione!" Ginny cheered.

**The smug look on Malfoy's face flickered.**  
**"No one asked your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he spat.**

Everyone except the muggles (except Margaret) and the Kaiju jumped out of their seats in outrage, except for Hermione, who remained calm.

"Oh relax will you?" She said in general. "It doesn't bother me, why should it? I know I'm better than Malfoy and all of his talk about blood purity is just a way to make them feel superior. It's the same with house-elves or goblins! They talk down to them because they know that they're not as good as the others."

People stared at Hermione. "Well said," Margaret finally said and Hermione blushed under the praise.

**Harry knew at once that Malfoy had said something really bad because there was an instant uproar at his words. Flint had to dive in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George jumping on him,**

"Unfortunately Flint wasn't there this year," George mumbled.

"Yeah but at least you got him," Fred pointed out.

**Alicia shrieked, "How dare you!" and Ron plunged his hand into his robes, pulled out his wand, yelling, "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" and pointed it furiously under Flint's arm at Malfoys face.**

"Isnt your wand broken though?" Neville asked Ron who blushed.

"Rush of the moment you know, didn't really think about that," Ron mumbled in response.

**A loud bang echoed around the stadium and a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him reeling backward onto the grass.**  
**"Ron! Ron! Are you all right?" squealed Hermione.**  
**Ron opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead he gave an almighty belch and several slugs dribbled out of his mouth onto his lap.**

"Eww!" Several people said with revolted looks. Ginny in particular looked like she was going to be sick.

**The Slytherin team were paralyzed with laughter. Flint was doubled up, hanging onto his new broomstick for support. Malfoy was on all fours, banging the ground with his fist. The Gryffindors were gathered around Ron, who kept belching large, glistening slugs. Nobody seemed to want to touch him.**

"Can't really blame them for that, it was disgusting," Harry said wrinkling his nose.

**"We'd better get him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," said Duncan to Hermione, who nodded bravely, and the pair of them pulled Ron up by the arms.**  
**"What happened, Duncan? What happened? Is he ill? But you can cure him, can't you?" Colin had run down from his seat and was now dancing alongside them as they left the field. Ron gave a huge heave and more slugs dribbled down his front.**  
**"Oooh," said Colin, fascinated and raising his camera. "Can you hold him still, Harry?"**

"There really is something wrong with that kid." George commented.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. "I mean how can you be fascinated by slugs someone burped up?"

**"Get out of the way, Colin!" said Duncan angrily. He and Hermione supported Ron out of the stadium and across the grounds toward the edge of the forest.**  
**"Nearly there, Ron," said Hermione as the gamekeeper's cabin came into view. "You'll be all right in a minute - almost there-"**

"What, you didn't know the counter curse?" Ginny asked her friend in amazement.

"I didn't know what spell he had used, and since every time he opened his mouth a slug came out, I thought better than to ask." Hermione answered.

**They were within twenty feet of Hagrid's house when the front door opened, but it wasn't Hagrid who emerged. Gilderoy Lockhart, wearing robes of palest mauve today, came striding out.**

"Why does he show up everywhere?" Neville complained. "He's almost as bad as Malfoy."

**"Quick, behind here," Duncan growled, dragging Ron behind a nearby bush. Hermione followed, somewhat reluctantly.**  
**"It's a simple matter if you know what you're doing!" Lockhart was saying loudly to Hagrid. "If you need help, you know where I am! I'll let you have a copy of my book. I'm surprised you haven't already got one - I'll sign one tonight and send it over. Well, good-bye!"**

"Didn' want one." Hagrid said gruffly.

**And he strode away toward the castle.**  
**Harry waited until Lockhart was out of sight, then pulled Ron out of the bush and up to Hagrid's front door. They knocked urgently.**  
**Hagrid appeared at once, looking very grumpy, but his expression brightened when he saw who it was.**  
**"Bin wonderin'when you'd come ter see me - come in, come in - thought you mighta bin Professor Lockhart back again-"**  
**Harry, Duncan and Hermione supported Ron over the threshold into the one-roomed cabin, which had an enormous bed in one corner, a fire crackling merrily in the other. Hagrid didn't seem perturbed by Ron's slug problem, which Harry hastily explained as he lowered Ron into a chair.**  
**"Better out than in," he said cheerfully, plunking a large copper basin in front of him. "Get em all up, Ron."**

"Urgh that was nasty," Ron commented for the first time.

**"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," said Hermione anxiously, watching Ron bend over the basin. "That's a difficult curse to work at the best of times, but with a broken wand-"**  
**Hagrid was bustling around making them tea. His boarhound, Fang, was slobbering over Harry.**  
**"What did Lockhart want with you, Hagrid?" Duncan asked, scratching Fang's ears.**  
**"Givin'me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," growled Hagrid, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table**

"Duncan! The rooster!" Hermione cried, slapping a hand to her forehead. "It was right there the whole time!"

"I know 'Mione, but we got there in the end right?" Duncan replied cryptically, much to the general annoyance.

**and setting down the teapot. "Like I don'know. An'bangin'on about some banshee he banished. If one word of it was true, I'll eat my kettle."**

"Thank you Hagrid!" Belloc said appreciatively. Then he looked over at Hermione with a smirk. "At least someone knows he's an idiot."

"Oh shut up," Hermione replied good naturedly, though she was blushing.

**It was most unlike Hagrid to criticize a Hogwarts' teacher, and Harry looked at him in surprise. Hermione, however, said in a voice somewhat higher than usual, "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job-"**

"Actually he was the only one Miss Granger," Dumbledore replied.

**"He was the on'y man for the job," said Hagrid, offering them a plate of treacle fudge, while Ron coughed squelchily into his basin. "An'I mean the on'y one. Gettin'very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin'ter think it's jinxed.**

"Did you know it was jinxed?" Duncan asked Remus who nodded.

"It had been ever since our sixth year. After that, no Professor had the job for more than a year."

"But you took it anyway?" Neville asked in awe.

"I wasn't going to miss an opportunity. I suppose I should be thankful that I only resigned and didn't leave the post in any other fashion."

"Oh come on, it's like you would have died," Harry said rolling his eyes.

**No one's lasted long fer a while now. So tell me," said Hagrid, jerking his head at Ron. "Who was he tryin' ter curse?"**  
**"Malfoy called Hermione something - it must've been really bad, because everyone went wild."**  
**"It was bad," said Ron hoarsely, emerging over the tabletop looking pale and sweaty. "Malfoy called her Mudblood,' Hagrid-"**  
**Ron dived out of sight again as a fresh wave of slugs made their appearance. Hagrid looked outraged.**  
**"He didn'!" he growled at Hermione.**  
**"He did," she said. "But I don't know what it means. I could tell it was really rude, of course-"**  
**"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," gasped Ron, coming back up. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is Muggle-born - you know, non-magic parents.**

Kenny, Jenna and Isabel growled at Malfoy

** There are some wizards - like Malfoy's family - who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pure-blood." He gave a small burp, and a single slug fell into his outstretched hand. He threw it into the basin and continued, "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make any difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom - he's pure-blood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."**

"Sorry Neville," Ron apologized while Snape half nodded in agreement with Ron's past statement.

**"An'they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can'do," said Hagrid proudly, making Hermione go a brilliant shade of magenta.**  
**"It's a disgusting thing to call someone," said Ron, wiping his sweaty brow with a shaking hand. "Dirty blood, see. Common blood. It's ridiculous. Most wizards these days are half-blood anyway. If we hadn't married Muggles we'd've died out."**

"That is true. In fact, its only a matter of time before the inbreeding takes its toll." Remus mused.

"What do you mean by that?" Ginny asked curiously.

"Well after much of the same blood is mixed by cousins marrying cousins and so, some diseases take their toll and sometimes the magic in the children isn't as strong because there isn't any new blood."

"So is that Snuffles' problem?" Harry asked cheekily and Remus laughed. Snuffles growled at Harry.

**He retched and ducked out of sight again.**  
**"Well, I don'blame yeh fer tryin'ter curse him, Ron," said Hagrid loudly over the thuds of more slugs hitting the basin. "Bu' maybe it was a good thing yer wand backfired. Spect Lucius Malfoy would've come marchin' up ter school if yeh'd cursed his son. Least yer not in trouble."**

"Oh yeah because burping up slugs was so much fun," Ron said sarcastically.

"Better than detention," Harry pointed out.

"But we had that anyway." Ron waved his point away.

**Duncan would have pointed out that trouble didn't come much worse than having slugs pouring out of your mouth, but he couldn't;**

"You see! Even you agree with me!" Ron exclaimed.

"Mate? You do know you're talking to a book right?" Harry sniggered as Ron blushed.

**Hagrid's treacle fudge had cemented his jaws together.**

"Sorry 'bout that," Hagrid apologized but Duncan simply shrugged.

**"Harry," said Hagrid abruptly as though struck by a sudden thought. "Gotta bone ter pick with yeh. I've heard you've bin givin' out signed photos. How come I haven't got one?"**  
**Seeing Harry's furious look, Duncan wrenched his teeth apart, laughing quietly.**

"That did hurt a bit," Duncan reminisced, rubbing his jaw.

**"I have not been giving out signed photos," Harry said hotly. "If Lockhart's still spreading that around-"**

"Relax Harry, he was only teasing you," Fred rolled his eyes.

**But then he saw that Hagrid was laughing.**  
**"I'm on'y jokin'," he said, patting Harry genially on the back and sending him face first into the table. "I knew yeh hadn't really. I told Lockhart yeh didn'need teh. Yer more famous than him without tryin'."**

"Yep." Nodded Duncan to a pouting Harry

**"Bet he didn't like that," said Duncan, sitting up and rubbing his chin.**  
**"Don'think he did," said Hagrid, his eyes twinkling. "An'then I told him I'd never read one o'his books an' he decided ter go. Treacle fudge, Ron?" he added as Ron reappeared.**

"You forgot he was burping slugs didn't you?" Hermione asked, not unkindly.

"Well I figur'd he could do with some food," Hagrid defended himself.

**"No thanks," said Ron weakly. "Better not risk it."**  
**"Come an'see what I've bin growin'," said Hagrid as Harry and Hermione finished the last of their tea.**  
**In the small vegetable patch behind Hagrid's house were a dozen of the largest pumpkins Harry had ever seen. Each was the size of a large boulder.**

"And its only September!" Neville said in surprise, but then he remembered how large those pumpkins had been at Halloween, and decided it made sense.

**"Gettin'on well, aren't they?" said Hagrid happily. "Fer the Halloween feast... should be big enough by then."**  
**"What've you been feeding them?" said Duncan with a smirk.**

"Or not," Fred and George chuckled.

**Hagrid looked over his shoulder to check that they were alone.**  
**"Well, I've bin givin' them - you know - a bit o'help-"**  
**Duncan noticed Hagrid's flowery pink umbrella leaning against the back wall of the cabin. Duncan had had reason to believe before now that this umbrella was not all it looked; in fact, he had the strong impression that Hagrid's old school wand was concealed inside it.**

"Gee you think?" George said sarcastically.

"Hey I was twelve all right!"

**Hagrid wasn't supposed to use magic. He had been expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, but Harry had never found out why - any mention of the matter and Hagrid would clear his throat loudly and become mysteriously deaf until the subject was changed.**  
**"An Engorgement Charm, I suppose?" said Hermione, halfway between disapproval and amusement. "Well, you've done a good job on them."**  
**"That's what yer little sister said," said Hagrid, nodding at Ron. "Met her jus' yesterday." Hagrid looked sideways at Harry, his beard twitching. "Said she was jus' lookin' round the grounds, but I reckon she was hopin' she might run inter someone else at my house." He winked at Harry. "If yeh ask me, she wouldn' say no ter a signed-"**

"Thanks Hagrid," Ginny said, looking up though her face was a bright red. Between all of the embarrassing things she did that year and the Chamber, it was a miracle that Harry was still talking to her.

**"Oh, shut up," said Harry. Duncan and Ron snorted with laughter and the ground was sprayed with slugs.**  
**"Watch it!" Hagrid roared, pulling Ron away from his precious pumpkins.**  
**It was nearly lunchtime and as the Evans had only had one bit of treacle fudge since dawn, they were keen to go back to school to eat. They said good-bye to Hagrid and walked back up to the castle, Ron hiccoughing occasionally, but only bringing up two very small slugs.**

A wave of revulsion passed over them all except for Luna, who said rather cheerfully, "Well at least they're stopping Ronald!"

"Right. Er…thanks Luna?" Ron said uncertainly looking for help.

**They had barely set foot in the cool entrance hall when a voice rang out, "There you are, Potter -Rosenblatt - Weasley." Professor McGonagall was walking toward them, looking stern.**

"What else is new?" Several of the students said, earning themselves the famed 'McGonagall Glare'. Once she was sure all of the students looked properly abashed, McGonagall allowed herself a brief smirk.

**"You will do your detentions this evening."**  
**"What're we doing, Professor?" said Ron, nervously suppressing a burp.**  
**"You will be polishing the silver in the trophy room with Mr. Filch," said Professor McGonagall. "And no magic, Weasley - elbow grease."**  
**Ron gulped. Argus Filch, the caretaker, was loathed by every student in the school.**

"I'm sure the feeling's mutual," Hermione replied and Fred and George clapped appreciatively.

**"And you, Evans, will be helping Professor Lockhart answer his fan mail," said Professor McGonagall.**

"And what fun that was! Wasn't it, Harry?" Duncan said in mock cheerfulness. On the inside however, his stomach was turning. That detention was when he first heard the Basilisk, not that he knew it at the time. What would everyone say when they found out? What would his parents say?

**"Oh n- Professor, can't I go and do the trophy room, too?" said Harry desperately. Duncan frowned at him.**  
**"If Rosenblatt doesn't mind" said Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrows. "Professor Lockhart requested one of you particularly. Eight o'clock sharp, all of you."**

**"YOU KNOW I DO MIND!" exploded Duncan when she had left.**

"That was selfish of you" said Kass seriously. Harry stared at her

**Harry, Duncan and Ron slouched into the Great Hall in states of deepest gloom, Hermione behind them, wearing a well-you-did-break-school-rules sort of expression, with Duncan discussing with her if Lockhart was or not an idiot. Harry didn't enjoy his shepherd's pie as much as he'd thought. Both Duncan and Ron felt they'd got the worse deal.**

"I'd rather have cleaned the trophies," Fred and Kenny said simultaneously, grinning at each other.

**"Filch'll have me there all night," said Ron heavily. "No magic! There must be about a hundred cups in that room. I'm no good at Muggle cleaning."**  
**"I'd swap anytime," said Duncan hollowly. "I've had loads of practice with the Dursleys and in my home.**

There was a soft growl from Belloc, but Duncan did not acknowledge it, nor did he look over at Mrs. Weasley who was sending him curious glances.

**Answering Lockhart's fan mail... he'll be a nightmare... THANKS HARRY!" he growled**

"Already said SORRY." Harry cut him off

**Saturday afternoon seemed to melt away, and in what seemed like no time, it was five minutes to eight, and Duncan was dragging his feet along the second-floor corridor to Lockhart's office. He gritted his teeth and knocked.**  
**The door flew open at once. Lockhart beamed down at him.**  
**"Ah, here's the scalawag!" he said. "Come in, Duncan, come in-"**  
**Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk.**  
**"You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Duncan, as though this was a huge treat.**  
**"This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her - huge fan of mine-"**  
**The minutes snailed by. Duncan let Lockhart's voice wash over him, occasionally saying, "Mmm" and "Right" and "Yeah." Now and then he caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Duncan****," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that."**

"Which doesn't even make sense!" Duncan said in frustration. He wanted to get this chapter over with, the sooner the better.

**The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching him, however, they would burn with a bigger flame when he got annoyed.**

"We will have to keep an eye over you in your detentions." Said Flitwick.

"You'll better think twice before send me to Snape's, who knows, maybe I'll burn his study 'by accident'" smiled Duncan innocently as Snape glared

** Duncan moved his aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address. It must be nearly time to leave, Duncan thought miserably, please let it be nearly time...**  
**And then he heard something - something quite apart from the spitting of the dying candles and Lockhart's prattle about his fans.**  
**It was a voice, a voice to chill the bone marrow, a voice of breathtaking, ice-cold venom.**  
**"Come... come to me... Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me kill you..."**

"What was that?" Belloc asked in alarm looking over at Duncan, who was wearing an unreadable mask. Ginny however, he noticed, had lost all of her color.

**Duncan gave a huge jump and a large lilac blot appeared on Veronica Smethley's street.**  
**"What?" he said loudly.**  
**"I know!" said Lockhart. "Six solid months at the top of the best-seller list! Broke all records!"**

"He didn't hear it?" Belloc inquired. There couldn't have been someone in the room with them…the door would have opened and there was no doubt that Duncan would have caught that.

**"No," said Duncan frantically. "That voice!"**  
**"Sorry?" said Lockhart, looking puzzled. "What voice?"**  
**"That - that voice that said - didn't you hear it?"**  
**Lockhart was looking at Duncan in high astonishment.**  
**"What are you talking about, Duncan? Perhaps you're getting a little drowsy? Great Scott - look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! I'd never have believed it - the time's flown, hasn't it?"**

"Not," Ron answered for his friend who hadn't moved since the 'voice' made its appearance.

**Duncan didn't answer. He was straining his ears to hear the voice again, but there was no sound now except for Lockhart telling him he mustn't expect a treat like this every time he got detention.**

"A treat?" Remus echoed. "Does he really think that anything involving him is so amazing?"

"Yes." Harry answered simply.

**Feeling dazed, Duncan left.**  
**It was so late that the Gryffindor common room was almost empty. Duncan went straight up to the dormitory. Ron wasn't back yet. Duncan pulled on his pajamas, got into bed, and waited. Half an hour later, Ron and Harry arrived, Ron nursing his right arm and bringing a strong smell of polish into the darkened room, Harry didn't seemed to mind.**  
**"My muscles have all seized up," Ron groaned, sinking on his bed. "Fourteen times he made me buff up that Quidditch cup before he was satisfied. And then I had another slug attack all over a Special Award for Services to the School. Took ages to get the slime off... **

**"How was it with Lockhart?" asked Harry**  
**Keeping his voice low so as not to wake Neville, Dean, and Seamus, Duncan told Ron and Harry exactly what he had heard.**  
**"And Lockhart said he couldn't hear it?" said Harry. Duncan could see him frowning in the moonlight. "D'you think he was lying? But I don't get it - even someone invisible would've had to open the door."**

"I agree," Belloc muttered, frowning as he thought.

**"I know," said Duncan, lying back in his four-poster and staring at the canopy above him. "I don't get it either."**

"Well that was a rather long chapter," Mrs. Weasley said as she put the book down with great relief.

"Can I read next Mrs. Weasley?" Neville asked hesitantly. In truth, he was afraid of the woman that had sent that dreaded Howler in second year since he knew that she could yell that loud.

"Of course you can dear," Mrs. Weasley said kindly, unaware about the effect she had on the boy as she passed the book to him.

* * *

**Another over! R&R please!**

**What do you think is Maggie's mark?**


	11. The deathday party

**Hey, I need REVIEWS, there's a poll referring to Hermione/Ron-Nico and also, I NEED SUGGESTIONS ABOUT HARRY'S KAIJU FORM**

**enjoy!**

* * *

"**Chapter Eight: The Deathday Party**" Neville read. Most were oblivious to the looks shared between the quartet and Ginny, and those that did merely told themselves that they would find out eventually.

**October arrived, spreading a damp chill over the grounds and into the castle. Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was kept busy by a sudden spate of colds among the staff and students. Her Pepperup potion worked instantly,**

"It always does," Mrs. Weasley said, having had to prepare it several times for her children over the years.

**though it left the drinker smoking at the ears for several hours afterward. Ginny Weasley, who had been looking pale, was bullied into taking some by Percy.**

As much as they wanted to, Fred and George didn't glare at their brother. After all, back then, he had been worried about his family. He hadn't thrown them away yet.

**The steam pouring from under her vivid hair gave the impression that her whole head was on fire.**

"Oh gee, thanks." Ginny mumbled, aiming to be sarcastic, but she was too worried to achieve it.

**Raindrops the size of bullets thundered on the castle windows for days on end; the lake rose, the flower beds turned into muddy streams, and Hagrid's pumpkins swelled to the size of garden sheds. Oliver Wood's enthusiasm for regular training sessions, however, was not dampened, which was why Harry and Duncan was to be found, late one stormy Saturday afternoon a few days before Halloween, returning to Gryffindor Tower, drenched to the skin and splattered with mud.**

"I can't believe he made you practice in those conditions!" Maggie said, shaking her head.

"Well that was Oliver for you," Duncan said wisely trying to placate her. She noticed he didn't look at her.

"Yeah, I feel sorry for Puddlemere though," Ron said and the twins laughed.

"Shame he didn't go to the Canons eh Ron? Maybe he could have picked them up a bit," Fred teased.

**Even aside from the rain and wind it hadn't been a happy practice session. Fred and George, who had been spying on the Slytherin team, had seen for themselves the speed of those new Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones.**

"So even though he was mad that the Slytherins were spying, he sent you to spy on them?" Nico asked, slightly amused. He knew that Wood had been enthusiastic about Quidditch, but this was fanatic!

"Pretty much," George nodded happily.

**They reported that the Slytherin team was no more than seven greenish blurs, shooting through the air like missiles. As Harry and Duncan squelched along the deserted corridor he came across somebody who looked just as preoccupied as they were. Nearly Headless Nick, the ghost of Gryffindor Tower, was staring morosely out of a window, muttering under his breath, "...don't fulfill their requirements... half an inch, if that..."**

"He got rejected for the Headless Hunt again then?" Remus asked Harry who nodded.

"He really should let that go, I mean, he's probably the only nearly headless ghost!" Ron said and people stared at him. "What?"

"Nothing mate, we just didn't know you could be so…supportive?" Duncan said, searching for the right word.

**"Hello, Nick," said Duncan.**  
**"Hello, hello," said Nearly Headless Nick, starting and looking round. He wore a dashing, plumed hat on his long curly hair, and a tunic with a ruff, which concealed the fact that his neck was almost completely severed. He was pale as smoke, and Duncan could see right through him to the dark sky and torrential rain outside.**

"Duncan, you should be a writer." Said Hermione suddenly. Duncan stared at her.

"Maybe, eh Harry?" he chuckled

Maggie stared at Duncan, trying to make him turn to look at her. She needed to talk to him, why he was avoiding her?

**"You look troubled, young Evans," said Nick, folding a transparent letter as he spoke and tucking it inside his doublet.**  
**"So do you," said Harry.**  
**"Ah," Nearly Headless Nick waved an elegant hand, "a matter of no importance... It's not as though I really wanted to join... Thought I'd apply, but apparently I don't fulfill requirements'-"**

"How many years d'you reckon he's been applying?" George wondered and Remus shrugged.

"He was when I went to school."

"Us as well," Mr. Weasley said.

"As far as I know, Nicholas has been trying for the Hunt for every year since he became a ghost," Dumbledore said, ending the conversation so that Neville could continue.

**In spite of his airy tone, there was a look of great bitterness on his face.**  
**"But you would think, wouldn't you," he erupted suddenly, pulling the letter back out of his pocket, "that getting hit forty-five times in the neck with a blunt axe would qualify you to join the Headless Hunt?"**

"Someone's bitter," Luna said airily.

**"Oh - yes," said the Evans at once, who was obviously supposed to agree.**  
**"I mean, nobody wishes more than I do that it had all been quick and clean, and my head had come off properly, I mean, it would have saved me a great deal of pain and ridicule. However -" Nearly Headless Nick shook his letter open and read furiously:**  
**"We can only accept huntsmen whose heads have parted company with their bodies. You will appreciate that it would be impossible otherwise for members to participate in hunt activities such as Horseback Head-Juggling and Head Polo. It is with the greatest regret, therefore, that I must inform you that you do not fulfill our requirements. With very best wishes, Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore.'"**  
**Fuming, Nearly Headless Nick stuffed the letter away.**  
**"Half an inch of skin and sinew holding my neck on, kids! Most people would think that's good and beheaded, but oh, no, it's not enough for Sir Properly Decapitated-Podmore."**

"Properly Decapitated-Podmore?" Fred repeated, shaking his head.

"Well he is centuries old," George pointed out.

"Fine. We'll let that one slide."

**Nearly Headless Nick took several deep breaths and then said, in a far calmer tone, "So - what's bothering you? Anything I can do?"**  
**"No," said Harry. "Not unless you know where we can get seven free Nimbus Two Thousand and Ones for our match against Sly-"**  
**The rest of Harry's sentence was drowned out by a high-pitched mewling from somewhere near his ankles. He looked down and found himself gazing into a pair of lamp-like yellow eyes. It was Mrs. Norris, the skeletal gray cat who was used by the caretaker, Argus Filch, as a sort of deputy in his endless battle against students.**

**"Oh crap." Duncan muttered**  
**"You'd better get out of here, kids," said Nick quickly. "Filch isn't in a good mood - he's got the flu and some third years accidentally plastered frog brains all over the ceiling in dungeon five.**

"How did they manage that?" Luna wondered in an airy tone and with her faraway look, Duncan reasoned that she was envisioning exactly how it had happened.

**He's been cleaning all morning, and if he sees you dripping mud all over the place-"**  
**"Right," said Harry, backing away from the accusing stare of Mrs. Norris, but not quickly enough. Drawn to the spot by the mysterious power that seemed to connect him with his foul cat, Argus Filch burst suddenly through a tapestry to Harry's right, wheezing and looking wildly about for the rule-breaker. There was a thick tartan scarf bound around his head, and his nose was unusually purple.**

"Urgh, bad image Harry," Neville interrupted himself as he wrinkled his nose.

**"Filth!" he shouted, his jowls aquiver, his eyes popping alarmingly as he pointed at the muddy puddle that had dripped from Harry and Duncan's Quidditch robes. "Mess and muck everywhere! I've had enough of it, I tell you! Follow me, Evans!"**  
**So Harry and Duncan waved a gloomy good-bye to Nearly Headless Nick and followed Filch back downstairs, doubling the number of muddy footprints on the floor. Harry and Duncan had never been inside Filch's office before; it was a place most students avoided.**

"Not us!"

"Oh yeah, you two were in there in your first year weren't you?" Harry asked innocently.

"Yup and that turned out to be the best visit ever didn't it Gred?"

"Sure did Forge."

Remus was looking at the twins with a slight smile on his face. He never found out how Harry and Duncan had gotten the Map from Filch, but he should have guessed that the twins had gotten to it first.

**The room was dingy and windowless, lit by a single oil lamp dangling from the low ceiling. A faint smell of fried fish lingered about the place. Wooden filing cabinets stood around the walls; from their labels, Harry could see that they contained details of every pupil Filch had ever punished. Fred and George Weasley had an entire drawer to themselves.**

"Really? A drawer for the both of you?" Ginny asked, her tone both impressed and serious.

"Oh, I'm sure its gotten bigger since then," Fred said waving a carefree hand.

"But it's when you have a draw to yourself, that's when you make history," Remus said smirking.

"Oh? And how would you know?" George asked as both he and Fred leaned forward. Remus shrugged.

"I had a whole drawer to myself by sixth year. By seventh, Filch had to clean it out and start over."

While Fred and George ogled at the man, Remus turned to Harry. "And before you ask, your father had two drawers and easily twice the amount of detentions I ever got. And if you want to know how many, just ask McGonagall, she kept track."

"You did?" Harry asked his professor who had a reminiscent smile on her face.

"Yes I did. Your father amounted almost three hundred before I gave up."

"If you had caught me, I'd have much more tan that." laughed Duncan as Harry grinned

**A highly polished collection of chains and manacles hung on the wall behind Filch's desk. It was common knowledge that he was always begging Dumbledore to let him suspend students by their ankles from the ceiling.**

"Not a bad punishment." Muttered Belloc distractedly making Duncan grimace.

"Which will never happen as long as I am Headmaster." Dumbledore said firmly but in her mind, Umbridge privately thought that that wouldn't be for much longer.

**Filch grabbed a quill from a pot on his desk and began shuffling around looking for parchment.**  
**"Dung," he muttered furiously, "great sizzling dragon bogies... frog brains... rat intestines...**

Harry, Duncan and Ron exchanged dark looks at that while Remus merely glared at the book.

**I've had enough of it... make an example... where's the form... yes..."**  
**He retrieved a large roll of parchment from his desk drawer and stretched it out in front of him, dipping his long black quill into the ink pot.**  
**"Name... Harry Potter. Crime..."**  
**"It was only a bit of mud!" Duncan defended his cousin.**  
**"It's only a bit of mud to you, boy, but to me it's an extra hour scrubbing!" shouted Filch, a drip shivering unpleasantly at the end of his bulbous nose. "Crime... befouling the castle...**

"That's a new one," Fred remarked in surprise.

**suggested sentence..."**  
**Dabbing at his streaming nose, Filch squinted unpleasantly at Harry who waited with bated breath for his sentence to fall.**  
**But as Filch lowered his quill, there was a great BANG! on the ceiling of the office, which made the oil lamp rattle.**

"What was that?" Ginny asked fearfully.

"Well if you'd let Neville continue, I'm sure you'll find out." Harry teased lightly.

**"PEEVES!" Filch roared, flinging down his quill in a transport of rage. "I'll have you this time, I'll have you!"**  
**And without a backward glance at Harry or Duncan, Filch ran flat-footed from the office, Mrs. Norris streaking alongside him.**  
**Peeves was the school poltergeist, a grinning, airborne menace who lived to cause havoc and distress. Harry didn't much like Peeves,**

"No one really does," George shrugged. "He's helpful sometimes though."

**but couldn't help feeling grateful for his timing. Hopefully, whatever Peeves had done (and it sounded as though he'd wrecked something very big this time) would distract Filch from Harry.**  
**Thinking that he should probably wait for Filch to come back,**

"Why didn't you run for it?" Ron asked and Harry shrugged.

"I figured I'd just get in more trouble when he saw me next."

**Harry sank into a moth-eaten chair next to the desk. He noticed Duncan picking up a large, glossy, purple envelope with silver letters. With a quick glance at the door to check that Filch wasn't on his way back, Harry leaned over Duncan's shoulder to read:**  
**Kwikspell**  
**A Correspondence Course in Beginners' Magic.**

Mr. Weasley shook his head. "Unfortunately, those never work, it's a just a scam."

**Intrigued, Duncan flicked the envelope open and pulled out the sheaf of parchment inside. More curly silver writing on the front page said:**  
**Feel out of step in the world of modern magic? Find yourself making excuses not to perform simple spells? Ever been taunted for your woeful wandwork?**

"Well we already knew Filch was useless," Fred stage whispered to George.

"But now we have proof!" George whispered back, both grinning like mad. It was almost a relief for the rest knowing that they wouldn't be back next year, armed with this knowledge.

**There is an answer!**  
**Kwikspell is an all-new, fail-safe, quick-result, easy-learn course. Hundreds of witches and wizards have benefited from the Kwikspell method!Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes:**  
**"I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke! Now, after a Kwikspell course, I am the center of attention at parties and friends beg for the recipe of my Scintillation Solution!"Warlock D. J. Prod of Didsbury says:**  
**"My wife used to sneer at my feeble charms, but one month into your fabulous Kwikspell course and I succeeded in turning her into a yak! Thank you, Kwikspell!"**  
**Fascinated, Harry and Duncan thumbed through the rest of the envelope's contents. Why on earth did Filch want a Kwikspell course? Did this mean he wasn't a proper wizard? Harry was just reading "Lesson One: Holding Your Wand (Some Useful Tips)" when shuffling footsteps outside told him Filch was coming back. Stuffing the parchment back into the envelope, Duncan threw it back onto the desk just as the door opened.**  
**Filch was looking triumphant.**  
**"That vanishing cabinet was extremely valuable!"**

At this Fred and George exchanged glances, paling ever so slightly. Wasn't that the cabinet that they pushed Montague into?

**he was saying gleefully to Mrs. Norris. "We'll have Peeves out this time, my sweet-"**  
**His eyes fell on Duncan and then darted to the Kwikspell envelope, which, Duncan realized too late, was lying two feet away from where it had started.**

"Now you're in trouble." Luna said airily.

**Filch's pasty face went brick red. Duncan braced himself for a tidal wave of fury. Filch hobbled across to his desk, snatched up the envelope, and threw it into a drawer.**  
**"Have you - did you read -?" he sputtered.**  
**"No," the Evans lied quickly.**  
**Filch's knobbly hands were twisting together.**  
**"If I thought you'd read my private -not that it's mine - for a friend - be that as it may - however-"**  
**Duncan was staring at him, alarmed; Filch had never looked madder. His eyes were popping, a tic was going in one of his pouchy cheeks, and the tartan scarf didn't help.**

"Really Duncan must you be so observant?" Fred and George asked, wearing identical masks of revulsion.

**"Very well - go - and don't breathe a word - not that - however, if you didn't read - go now, I have to write up Peeves' report - go-"**  
**Amazed at their luck, Harry and Duncan sped out of the office, up the corridor, and back upstairs. To escape from Filch's office without punishment was probably some kind of school record.**  
**"Harry! Duncan! Did it work?"**

"Wait! Nick did that!"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Read on Neville, and ignore those two."

**Nearly Headless Nick came gliding out of a classroom. Behind him, Harry could see the wreckage of a large black-and-gold cabinet that appeared to have been dropped from a great height.**  
**"I persuaded Peeves to crash it right over Filch's office," said Nick eagerly. "Thought it might distract him-"**

"How have we not known that our own ghost was a prankster?" George cried and mock fainted and Fred fanned him to get him to wake up. Neville, taking Harry's advice, kept reading over the twin's antics, though he was chuckling himself.

**"Was that you?" said Duncan gratefully. "Yeah, it worked, we didn't even get detention. Thanks, Nick!"**  
***]****  
****[*They set off up the corridor together. Nearly Headless Nick, Harry noticed, was still holding Sir Patrick's rejection letter...**  
**"I wish there was something I could do for you about the Headless Hunt," Duncan said. Nearly Headless Nick stopped in his tracks and Harry walked right through him.**

Everyone winced sympathetically, having done something similar to that at some point.

**He wished he hadn't; it was like stepping through an icy shower.**  
**"But there is something you could do for me," said Nick excitedly. "Harry - Duncan - would I be asking too much - but no, you wouldn't want-"**  
**"What is it?" asked the cousins.**

**"Well, this Halloween will be my five hundredth deathday," said Nearly Headless Nick, drawing himself up and looking dignified.**  
**"Oh," said Duncan, not sure whether he should look sorry or happy about this. "Right."**

"I don't think there is a proper way to act in that situation," Hermione mused thoughtfully.

**"I'm holding a party down in one of the roomier dungeons. Friends will be coming from all over the country. It would be such an honor if you would attend. Mr. Weasley, Mr D'Kiaro and Miss Granger would be most welcome, too, of course - but I daresay you'd rather go to the school feast?" He watched Harry and Duncan on tenterhooks.**

"Well it's not like we were going to say no after that!" Harry groaned at looks questioning his sanity. "He guilt tripped us!"

**"No," said Harry quickly, "We'll come-"**  
**"My dear boys! Harry and Duncan Evans, at my deathday party! And -" he hesitated, looking excited "- do you think you could possibly mention to Sir Patrick how very frightening and impressive you find me?"**

"Oh sure, cause Nick is really frightening. Next to the Fat Friar, he's probably the friendliest ghost," George, having just been 'revived' spoke up.

**"Of - of course," said Duncan.**  
**Nearly Headless Nick beamed at him.**  
**"A deathday party?" said Hermione keenly when Harry and Duncan had changed at last and joined her, Nico and Ron in the library. "I bet there aren't many living people who can say they've been to one of those - it'll be fascinating!"**

"Still think that?" Ron teased and Hermione shook her head.

**"Why would anyone want to celebrate the day they died?" said Ron, who was halfway through his Potions homework and grumpy.**

** "Sounds dead depressing to me..." said Nico**

"Err no pun intended," Nico said, having just realized the joke after Fred and George laughed.

**Rain was still lashing the windows, which were now inky black, but inside all looked bright and cheerful. The firelight glowed over the countless squashy armchairs where people sat reading, talking, doing homework or, in the case of Fred and George Weasley, trying to find out what would happen if you fed a Filibuster firework to a salamander.**

"Nothing good I'd imagine," Remus commented as Luna looked outraged at the salamander's treatment.

**Fred had "rescued" the brilliant orange, fire-dwelling lizard from a Care of Magical Creatures class and it was now smouldering gently on a table surrounded by a knot of curious people. Duncan seemed rather fascinated by the creature.**

"I wasn't!" said Duncan when Belloc looked at him amused

"Norbert." Said Hermione

"Fawkes" said Harry

"Touché."  
**Harry was at the point of telling Ron and Hermione about Filch and the Kwikspell course when the salamander suddenly whizzed into the air, emitting loud sparks and bangs as it whirled wildly round the room. The sight of Percy bellowing himself hoarse at Fred and George, the spectacular display of tangerine stars showering from the salamander's mouth, and its escape into the fire, with accompanying explosions, drove both Filch and the Kwikspell envelope from Harry and Duncan's mind.**

"Never mind," Remus said. "That was brilliant!"

"Marauder worthy?" Harry whispered to Remus who snorted.

"Not even close, but I'll give them points on originality."

**By the time Halloween arrived, Harry and Duncan were regretting their rash promise to go to the deathday party. The rest of the school was happily anticipating their Halloween feast; the Great Hall had been decorated with the usual live bats, Hagrid's vast pumpkins had been carved into lanterns large enough for three men to sit in, and there were rumors that Dumbledore had booked a troupe of dancing skeletons for the entertainment.**

"No there weren't…" Fred said downcast.

"Maybe next year sir?" George asked eagerly.

"Unless I am mistaken Mr. Weasley, you and your brother won't be returning to the castle next year." Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling at the disappointed faces of the twins.

**"A promise is a promise," Hermione reminded Harry bossily. "You said you'd go to the deathday party."**  
**So at seven o'clock, Harry, Duncan, Nico, Ron, and Hermione walked straight past the doorway to the packed Great Hall, which was glittering invitingly with gold plates and candles, and directed their steps instead toward the dungeons.**  
**The passageway leading to Nearly Headless Nick's party had been lined with candles, too, though the effect was far from cheerful: These were long, thin, jet-black tapers, all burning bright blue, casting a dim, ghostly light even over their own living faces. The temperature dropped with every step they took. As Harry shivered and drew his robes tightly around him, he heard what sounded like a thousand fingernails scraping an enormous blackboard.**

Remus winced just at the thought. He could remember all too well one time James had done that, before they knew his secret.

**Duncan was shivering violently, but he had to remain focused when a small flame started forming besides him.**

"You did that once, remember?" laughed Harry. Duncan looked smug

"What happened?" asked Colin Creevey

"Well, we were in our cupboard…" Harry ignored the growls. "Duncan was shaking like mad, and he was muttering how he wished to be warm. Then I started to smell smoke, and the next thing I knew, there was a little fire forming inside our cupboard…"

"We started screaming and we heard Uncle Vernon coming downstairs. He unlocked the cupboard and we saw that the fire was in the kitchen, the living room, everything. My first display of accidental magic with Harry." Finished Duncan proudly

People were staring at them in shock

**"Is that supposed to be music?" Nico whispered. They turned a corner and saw Nearly Headless Nick standing at a doorway hung with black velvet drapes.**  
**"My dear friends," he said mournfully. "Welcome, welcome... so pleased you could come..."**

"I still don't know, are you supposed to be happy at a deathday party?" Ron asked and no one had an answer for him.

**He swept off his plumed hat and bowed them inside.**  
**It was an incredible sight. The dungeon was full of hundreds of pearly-white, translucent people, mostly drifting around a crowded dance floor, waltzing to the dreadful, quavering sound of thirty musical saws, played by an orchestra on a raised, black-draped platform. A chandelier overhead blazed midnight-blue with a thousand more black candles.**

"That does sound rather interesting," Luna admitted. "At least, the chandelier bit."

**Their breath rose in a mist before them; it was like stepping into a freezer.**  
**"Shall we have a look around?" Harry suggested, wanting to warm up his feet.**  
**"Careful not to walk through anyone," said Nico nervously, and they set off around the edge of the dance floor. They passed a group of gloomy nuns, a ragged man wearing chains, and the Fat Friar, a cheerful Hufflepuff ghost, who was talking to a knight with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. Harry wasn't surprised to see that the Bloody Baron, a gaunt, staring Slytherin ghost covered in silver bloodstains, was being given a wide berth by the other ghosts.**  
**"Oh, no," said Hermione, stopping abruptly. "Turn back, turn back, I don't want to talk to Moaning Myrtle-"**

Most of the women in the room nodded at that, having at least one experience with Myrtle at some point.

**"Who?" said Duncan as they backtracked quickly.**  
**"She haunts one of the toilets in the girls' bathroom on the first floor," said Hermione.**  
**"She haunts a toilet?"**  
**"Yes. It's been out-of-order all year because she keeps having tantrums and flooding the place. I never went in there anyway if I could avoid it; it's awful trying to have a pee with her wailing at you-"**  
**"Look, food!" said Ron.**

"I don't think you want to eat food in a party full of ghosts Ron," Ginny said, speaking quietly. Those that knew what was troubling her didn't make a comment.

**On the other side of the dungeon was a long table, also covered in black velvet. They approached it eagerly but next moment had stopped in their tracks, horrified. The smell was quite disgusting. Large, rotten fish were laid on handsome silver platters; cakes, burned charcoal-black, were heaped on salvers; there was a great maggoty haggis, a slab of cheese covered in furry green mold and, in pride of place, an enormous gray cake in the shape of a tombstone, with tar-like icing forming the words,**  
**SIR NICHOLAS DE MIMSY-PORPINGTON**  
**DIED 31ST OCTOBER, 1492**

"Wasn't that when Columbus sailed?" Hermione asked, forgetting that in the wizarding world, Columbus wasn't that famous, or even heard of in some cases. Seeing the looks and realizing her mistake, she quickly said "Never mind," and gestured for Neville to continue.

**Harry watched, amazed, as a portly ghost approached the table, crouched low, and walked through it, his mouth held wide so that it passed through one of the stinking salmon.**  
**"Can you taste it if you walk though it?" Duncan asked him.**  
**"Almost," said the ghost sadly, and he drifted away.**  
**"I expect they've let it rot to give it a stronger flavor," said Hermione knowledgeably, pinching her nose and leaning closer to look at the putrid haggis.**

"Just ew." The twins said pulling faces.

**"Can we move? I feel sick," said Nico.**  
**They had barely turned around, however, when a little man swooped suddenly from under the table and came to a halt in midair before them.**  
**"Hello, Peeves," said Duncan cautiously.**

**He was glad that he had showed up, being there with the ghosts was freaking him out. They couldn't be heard unless they talked, they could not be seen if they wanted to, they couldn't be smelled. Duncan knew they also didn't mean any harm, but it was just…unnatural.**

People looked confused at him. Again

**Unlike the ghosts around them, Peeves the Poltergeist was the very reverse of pale and transparent. He was wearing a bright orange party hat, a revolving bow tie, and a broad grin on his wide, wicked face.**

"Why'd Nick invite him anyway?" Ron wondered.

"Because it would have been rude not to Ronald," Mrs. Weasley reprimanded.

**"Nibbles?" he said sweetly, offering them a bowl of peanuts covered in fungus.**

"Be afraid." The twins and Remus said, looking at the book suspiciously. Peeves was never nice, unless he was about to do something very bad.

**"No thanks," said Nico.**  
**"Heard you talking about poor Myrtle," said Peeves, his eyes dancing. "Rude you was about poor Myrtle." He took a deep breath and bellowed, "OY! MYRTLE!"**  
**"Oh, no, Peeves, don't tell her what I said, she'll be really upset," Hermione whispered frantically. "I didn't mean it, I don't mind her - er, hello, Myrtle."**  
**The squat ghost of a girl had glided over. She had the glummest face Harry had ever seen, half-hidden behind lank hair and thick, pearly spectacles.**  
**"What?" she said sulkily.**  
**"How are you, Myrtle?" said Hermione in a falsely bright voice. "It's nice to see you out of the toilet."**  
**Myrtle sniffed.**  
**"Miss Granger was just talking about you -" said Peeves slyly in Myrtle's ear. "Just saying-"**  
**"Just saying - saying - how nice you look tonight," said Hermione, glaring at Peeves.**  
**Myrtle eyed Hermione suspiciously.**  
**"You're making fun of me," she said, silver tears welling rapidly in her small, see-through eyes.**  
**"No - honestly - didn't I just say how nice Myrtle's looking?" said Hermione, nudging Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron painfully in the ribs.**  
**"Oh, yeah-"**  
**"She did-"**

"Not much help are you?" Hermione huffed teasingly.

**"Don't lie to me," Myrtle gasped, tears now flooding down her face, while Peeves chuckled happily over her shoulder. "D'you think I don't know what people call me behind my back? Fat Myrtle! Ugly Myrtle! Miserable, moaning, moping Myrtle!"**  
**"You've forgotten pimply," Peeves hissed in her ear.**  
**Moaning Myrtle burst into anguished sobs and fled from the dungeon. Peeves shot after her, pelting her with moldy peanuts, yelling, "Pimply! Pimply! "**  
**"Oh, dear," said Hermione sadly.**

"I wouldn't worry about it, Myrtle's always been that way," Remus said reassuringly.

"I'm sure I'm going to regret asking, but how do you know that?" Hermione asked.

"She fancied James, followed him around for a year, then when she realized he liked Lily, she started 'haunting' her, until Lily threatened to blow up her toilet."

Harry was taking all of this in with a big grin on his face, any opportunity he got to hear about his parents was worth it, even if it meant revealing some things.

**Nearly Headless Nick now drifted toward them through the crowd.**  
**"Enjoying yourselves?"**  
**"Oh, yes," they lied.**  
**"Not a bad turnout," said Nearly Headless Nick proudly.**

"He believed you?" Neville asked, stopping his reading. "I mean no offense, but Harry, Ron and Hermione really aren't the greatest liars."

"Trust me, we were just as shocked." Harry laughed.

"Besides, Duncan and I have more practice." Said Nico

**"The Wailing Widow came all the way up from Kent... It's nearly time for my speech, I'd better go and warn the orchestra..."**  
**The orchestra, however, stopped playing at that very moment. They, and everyone else in the dungeon, fell silent, looking around in excitement, as a hunting horn sounded.**  
**"Oh, here we go," said Nearly Headless Nick bitterly.**  
**Through the dungeon wall burst a dozen ghost horses, each ridden by a headless horseman. The assembly clapped wildly; Harry started to clap, too, but stopped quickly at the sight of Nick's face.**  
**The horses galloped into the middle of the dance floor and halted, rearing and plunging. At the front of the pack was a large ghost who held his bearded head under his arm, from which position he was blowing the horn. The ghost leapt down, lifted his head high in the air so he could see over the crowd (everyone laughed), and strode over to Nearly Headless Nick, squashing his head back onto his neck.**  
**"Nick!" he roared. "How are you? Head still hanging in there?"**  
**He gave a hearty guffaw and clapped Nearly Headless Nick on the shoulder.**  
**"Welcome, Patrick," said Nick stiffly.**

"Wait. He invited the guy who rejected him?" Neville asked, clearly confused.

"I don't think he had a choice. Besides, he wanted to show off by having Harry and Duncan there remember?" Hermione pointed out.

"Oh right."

**"Live uns!" said Sir Patrick, spotting Harry, Duncan, Nico, Ron, and Hermione and giving a huge, fake jump of astonishment, so that his head fell off again (the crowd howled with laughter).**  
**"Very amusing," said Nearly Headless Nick darkly.**  
**"Don't mind Nick!" shouted Sir Patrick's head from the floor. "Still upset we won't let him join the Hunt! But I mean to say - look at the fellow-"**  
**"I think," said Harry hurriedly, at a meaningful look from Nick, "Nick's very - frightening and - er-"**

"And there went conviction," Ron laughed.

**"Ha!" yelled Sir Patrick's head."Bet he asked you to say that!"**  
**"If I could have everyone's attention, it's time for my speech!" said Nearly Headless Nick loudly, striding toward the podium and climbing into an icy blue spotlight.**  
**"My late lamented lords, ladies, and gentlemen, it is my great sorrow..."**  
**But nobody heard much more. Sir Patrick and the rest of the Headless Hunt had just started a game of Head Hockey and the crowd was turning to watch. Nearly Headless Nick tried vainly to recapture his audience, but gave up as Sir Patrick's head went sailing past him to loud cheers.**

"Poor Sir. Nicholas," Luna said sadly.

**Duncan was freezing by now, not to mention hungry.**  
**"I can't stand much more of this," Ron muttered, his teeth chattering, as the orchestra ground back into action and the ghosts swept back onto the dance floor.**  
**"Let's go," Nico agreed.**  
**They backed toward the door, nodding and beaming at anyone who looked at them, and a minute later were hurrying back up the passageway full of black candles.**  
**"Pudding might not be finished yet," said Ron hopefully, leading the way toward the steps to the entrance hall.**

"Why do I have the feeling that you aren't going to the feast?" Belloc said suddenly.

"Er…what gives you that idea?" Harry asked, stalling for time.

"Call it instinct, or paying attention to the worried looks these two," he gestured to Nico and Hermione, "Have been giving each other since the chapter started."

"Well…uh…let's just keep reading shall we?" Duncan said, turning away from Belloc's searching eyes. What else had the man noticed that Duncan thought no one had?

**And then Duncan heard it.**  
**"... rip... tear... kill..."**  
**It was the same voice, the same cold, murderous voice he had heard in Lockhart's office.**  
**He stumbled to a halt, clutching at the stone wall, listening with all his might, looking around, squinting up and down the dimly lit passageway.**  
**"Duncan, what're you -?"**  
**"It's that voice again - shut up a minute-"**  
**"... soo hungry... for so long..."**

**Harry went completely still.**

**"Can you hear it too?" asked Duncan. Harry nodded**  
**"Listen!" said Harry urgently, and Ron, Nico and Hermione froze, watching them.**  
**"... kill... time to kill..."**

By this point, everyone in the room had paled considerably, but none more so than Ginny, who looked almost like a ghost herself.

"It's all right Ginny," Duncan told her in a whisper

"But it was all my fault," she mumbled back, her lips barely moving.

"No it wasn't, and it never will be," he told her as firmly as he could in a whisper.

**The voice was growing fainter. Duncan was sure it was moving away - moving upward. A mixture of fear and excitement gripped him as he stared at the dark ceiling; how could it be moving upward? Was it a phantom, to whom stone ceilings didn't matter?**  
**"This way," Harry shouted, and they began to run, up the stairs, into the entrance hall. It was no good hoping to hear anything here, the babble of talk from the Halloween feast was echoing out of the Great Hall. Duncan and Harry sprinted up the marble staircase to the first floor, Ron, Nico and Hermione clattering behind them.**  
**"Guys, what're we-"**  
**"SHH!"**  
**Duncan strained his ears. Distantly, from the floor above, and growing fainter still, he heard the voice: "... I smell blood... I SMELL BLOOD!"**

"What is it?" Remus asked fearfully but Harry just shook his head.

"You'll find out." Was all he said.

**Duncan froze. He smelled blood too.**

"What the…?" asked Maggie confused

******His stomach lurched-**  
**"It's going to kill someone!" he shouted, and ignoring Ron's, Nico's and Hermione's bewildered faces, he and Harry ran up the next flight of steps three at a time, trying to listen over his own pounding footsteps - Duncan hurtled around the whole of the second floor, Ron, Nico and Hermione panting behind him, not stopping until they turned a corner into the last, deserted passage.**  
**"Harry, Duncan, what was that all about?" said Ron, wiping sweat off his face. "I couldn't hear anything..."**  
**But Nico gave a sudden gasp, pointing down the corridor.**  
**"Look! "**  
**Something was shining on the wall ahead. They approached slowly, squinting through the darkness. Foot-high words had been daubed on the wall between two windows, shimmering in the light cast by the flaming torches.**

**_THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN OPENED._****  
_ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE_**

**"What's that thing - hanging underneath?" said Ron, a slight quiver in his voice.**  
**As they edged nearer, Duncan almost slipped - there was a large puddle of water on the floor; Ron, Nico, Harry and Hermione grabbed him, and they inched toward the message, eyes fixed on a dark shadow beneath it. All three of them realized what it was at once, and leapt backward with a splash.**  
**Mrs. Norris, the caretaker's cat, was hanging by her tail from the torch bracket. She was stiff as a board, her eyes wide and staring.**

The ones who didn't know about this looked shocked

**For a few seconds, they didn't move. Then Ron said, "Let's get out of here."**  
**"Shouldn't we try and help -" Duncan began awkwardly.**  
**"Trust me," said Nico. "We don't want to be found here."**  
**But it was too late. A rumble, as though of distant thunder, told them that the feast had just ended. From either end of the corridor where they stood came the sound of hundreds of feet climbing the stairs, and the loud, happy talk of well-fed people; next moment, students were crashing into the passage from both ends.**  
**The chatter, the bustle, the noise died suddenly as the people in front spotted the hanging cat. Harry, Duncan, Nico, Ron, and Hermione stood alone, in the middle of the corridor, as silence fell among the mass of students pressing forward to see the grisly sight.**

"Not a good place to be," Remus mumbled to himself but his mind was racing.

**Then someone shouted through the quiet.**  
**"Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"**  
**It was Draco Malfoy. He had pushed to the front of the crowd, his cold eyes alive, his usually bloodless face flushed, as he grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat.**

"That-that's it," Neville said as he held the book out, his hand shaking ever so slightly. "Who wants to read next?"

Belloc wasn't paying attention to the conversation going on around him, he was thinking about all that he knew. The Chamber of Secrets…what was that myth? Something about Salazar Slytherin and his monster…something that only the heir could control…but what was it?

* * *

**Another over! R&R please!**

**What do you think Maggie should do about her mark?**


	12. The Writing on the Wall

**_Hey, people!_**

**_How many times I have to tell you: THERE'S A POLL IN MY PROFILE?_**

**_Anyway enjoy! And don't forget to see my other story, Demon Child!_**

* * *

"**Chapter Nine: The Writing on the Wall**" Luna read, her airy voice making the ominous title seem even more frightening, if that was possible.

**"What's going on here? What's going on?"**  
**Attracted no doubt by Malfoy's shout, Argus Filch came shouldering his way through the crowd.**

"Oh, that's not going to be good, he loves that cat." Neville said with a clear look of questioning as to how anyone could love that beast.

**Then he saw Mrs. Norris and fell back, clutching his face in horror.**  
**"My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs. Norris?" he shrieked.**  
**And his popping eyes fell on Duncan.**

"Of course they did," Duncan sighed. "Every time something happens in this school, it's my fault."

"Or mine." said Harry

**"You!"he screeched. "You! You've murdered my cat! You've killed her! I'll kill you! I'll-"**

Margaret was glaring at Flich, who flinched

**"Argus!"**  
**Dumbledore had arrived on the scene, followed by a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept past Harry, Duncan, Ron, Nico, and Hermione and detached Mrs. Norris from the torch bracket.**  
**"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch. "You, too, Mr. Potter, Mr. Rosenblatt, Mr. D'Kiaro, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger."**  
**Lockhart stepped forward eagerly.**

"Of course, anything to be at the center of attention," Remus grumbled.

**"My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please feel free-"**  
**"Thank you, Gilderoy," said Dumbledore.**  
**The silent crowd parted to let them pass. Lockhart, looking excited and important, hurried after Dumbledore; so did Professors McGonagall and Snape.**  
**As they entered Lockhart's darkened office there was a flurry of movement across the walls; Harry saw several of the Lockharts in the pictures dodging out of sight, their hair in rollers.**

In this case, no person tried to contain their amusement, even Fudge and Percy cracked a smile at Lockhart's expense.

**The real Lockhart lit the candles on his desk and stood back. Dumbledore lay Mrs. Norris on the polished surface and began to examine her. Harry, Duncan, Ron, Nico and Hermione exchanged tense looks and sank into chairs outside the pool of candlelight, watching.**

"And waiting to see if we were going to be in trouble," Nico added, shrugging.

**The tip of Dumbledore's long, crooked nose was barely an inch from Mrs. Norris's fur. He was looking at her closely through his half-moon spectacles, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. Professor McGonagall was bent almost as close, her eyes narrowed. Snape loomed behind them, half in shadow, wearing a most peculiar expression: It was as though he was trying hard not to smile.**

"Well what sane person wouldn't smile at that blasted cat's demise?" Snape muttered.

"There is a time and a place for everything Severus." McGonagall reprimanded him and he resorted to mumbling under his breath.

**And Lockhart was hovering around all of them, making suggestions.**  
**"It was definitely a curse that killed her - probably the Transmogrifian Torture –**

"Has anyone else ever heard of that spell?" Remus asked and there were several shaking heads.

**I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very countercurse that would have saved her..."**

"Oh I very much doubt that." Harry said wincing at the memory of Lockhart trying to 'fix' his and Duncan's arm. The man couldn't perform even the simplest of spells.

**Lockhart's comments were punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. He was slumped in a chair by the desk, unable to look at Mrs. Norris, his face in his hands. Much as he detested Filch, Harry couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for him, though not nearly as sorry as he felt for himself.**

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley," Harry mumbled, glaring at Ron who was smirking.

**If Dumbledore believed Filch, he and Duncan would be expelled for sure.**  
**Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but nothing happened. She continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed.**

Most of the pranksters in the room sighed wistfully.

**"...I remember something very similar happening in Ouagadogou," said Lockhart, "a series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once..."**

"For Merlin's sake shut up!" Remus said losing his patience with the book. "Just get on with what happened to the cat!"

**The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net.**  
**At last Dumbledore straightened up, but Duncan, who had been staring at the cat, beat him to speak.**  
**"She's not dead." he said softly.**  
**Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the number of murders he had prevented.**  
**"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all - all stiff and frozen?"**

"All stiff and frozen? That was the best he could come up with?" George wondered.

**"She has been Petrified," said Dumbledore ("Ah! I thought so!" said Lockhart). "But how, I cannot say..."**

Ginny shivered. She knew how since she was the one that did it.

**"Ask them!" shrieked Filch, turning his blotched and tearstained face to Harry and Duncan.**  
**"No second year could have done this," said Dumbledore firmly. "it would take Dark Magic of the most advanced-"**

"Kind," Dumbledore finished his past self's sentence, knowing that he would be interrupted.

**"They did it, they did it!" Filch spat, his pouchy face purpling. "You saw what they wrote on the wall! They found - in my office - they knows I'm a - I'm a -" Filch's face worked horribly. "They know I'm a Squib!" he finished.**

"And if I wanted revenge on Filch, why would we attack Mrs. Norris?"

"I don't think he was thinking that far in advance Harry," Hermione told him.

**"I never touched Mrs. Norris!" Harry said loudly, uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at him, including all the Lockharts on the walls. "And I don't even know what a Squib is." Duncan added**

Maggie opened her mouth but Harry cut across her. "We know now remember?"

Maggie scowled, she had been tried all the chapter to make Duncan look at her

**"Rubbish!" snarled Filch. "He saw my Kwikspell letter!"**  
**"If I might speak, Headmaster," said Snape from the shadows, and Duncan's sense of foreboding increased; he was sure nothing Snape had to say was going to do him any good.**

"Does it ever?" Ron wondered.

"What was that Mr. Weasley?" Snape snarled from his spot at the table.

"Nothing sir, just thinking to myself," Ron quickly answered. Then in a tone so low that only Remus, Belloc, Harry and Duncan heard it, "Stupid bat hearing." The people in the Hall couldn't understand why they were having a sudden coughing fit, but Harry quickly waved for Luna to continue reading.

**"Potter and his friends may have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time," he said, a slight sneer curling his mouth as though he doubted it. "But we do have a set of suspicious circumstances here. Why was he in the upstairs corridor at all? Why wasn't he at the Halloween feast?"**  
**Harry, Ron, Duncan, Nico and Hermione all launched into an explanation about the deathday party. "...there were hundreds of ghosts, they'll tell you we were there-"**  
**"But why not join the feast afterward?" said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight. "Why go up to that corridor?"**  
**Ron, Nico and Hermione looked at Harry and Duncan.**  
**"Because - because -" Harry said, his heart thumping very fast; something told him it would sound very far-fetched if he told them he had been led there by a bodiless voice no one but he could hear,**

"That sounds far-fetched to me and I read about it," Neville admitted.

**"Because we were tired and wanted to go to bed," Duncan said.**  
**"Without any supper?" said Snape, a triumphant smile flickering across his gaunt face. "I didn't think ghosts provided food fit for living people at their parties."**

"I doubt that food was even fit for dead people," Nico said.

**"We weren't hungry," said Nico loudly as his stomach gave a huge rumble.**

"Really, Nico, really?" asked Hermione as Nico blushed. Ron tried not to scowl.

**Snape's nasty smile widened.**  
**"I suggest, Headmaster, that Potter and Rosenblatt are not being entirely truthful," he said. "It might be a good idea if they were deprived of certain privileges until they are ready to tell us the whole story. I personally feel they should be taken off the Gryffindor Quidditch team until they are ready to be honest."**

"And what does a petrified cat have to do with Quidditch? It's not like the cat was attacked by a broomstick," Belloc said, glaring at Snape.

**"Really, Severus," said Professor McGonagall sharply, "I see no reason to stop the boy playing Quidditch. This cat wasn't hit over the head with a broomstick.**

"Thank you Professor," Belloc said to McGonagall, giving Snape a smug smile.

**There is no evidence at all that Evans has done anything wrong."**  
**Dumbledore was giving Duncan a searching look. His twinkling light-blue gaze made Duncan feel as though he were being X-rayed.**

"I hate that feeling," Duncan muttered. "It always makes me feel guilty."

Remus chuckled. "Snuffles was the only one of us that was immune to that feeling."

**"Innocent until proven guilty, Severus," he said firmly.**  
**Snape looked furious.**  
**So did Filch.**  
**"My cat has been Petrified!"**

"What happened to stiff and frozen?" Hermione scoffed.

**he shrieked, his eyes popping. "I want to see some punishment!"**  
**"We will be able to cure her, Argus," said Dumbledore patiently. "Professer Sprout recently managed to procure some Mandrakes.**

"What a coincidence," Belloc stated sarcastically

**As soon as they have reached their full size, I will have a potion made that will revive Mrs. Norris."**  
**"I'll make it," Lockhart butted in. "I must have done it a hundred times. I could whip up a Mandrake Restorative Draught in my sleep-"**  
**"Excuse me," said Snape icily. "But I believe I am the Potions master at this school."**

"I cant believe I'm saying this, but nicely done Severus," Remus told the man.

"Would you care to repeat that Lupin? I didn't quite hear you," Snape sneered.

Remus rolled his eyes. "Don't push it."

**There was a very awkward pause.**  
**"You may go," Dumbledore said to Harry, Duncan, Nico, Ron, and Hermione.**  
**They went, as quickly as they could without actually running. When they were a floor up from Lockhart's office, they turned into an empty classroom and closed the door quietly behind them. Harry and Duncan squinted at their friends' darkened faces.**  
**"D'you think we should have told them about that voice we heard?"**  
**"No," said Nico, without hesitation. "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world."**

"It's worse in the Muggle world," Hermione said. "They lock you up because there aren't any potions or spells to help you."

"Are you saying I need a straight jacket and a padded cell?" Harry asked her.

"Well mate," Fred and George began.

"Keep reading Luna," Duncan cut them off.

**Something in Nico's voice made Harry ask, "You do believe us, don't you?"**  
**"Course I do," said Ron quickly. "But - you must admit it's weird..."**  
**"I know it's weird," said Harry. "The whole thing's weird. What was that writing on the wall about? The Chamber Has Been Opened ... What's that supposed to mean?"**  
**"You know, it rings a sort of bell," said Ron slowly. "I think someone told me a story about a secret chamber at Hogwarts once... might've been Bill..."**

"What? No answer from Hermione?" Kass and Rosezelene teased but Hermione shrugged.

"I agreed with Ron, it did ring a bell, I just had to find it." She answered.

**"And what on earth's a Squib?" said Duncan.**  
**To his surprise, Ron stifled a snigger.**  
**"Well - it's not funny really - but as it's Filch," he said. "A Squib is someone who was born into a wizarding family but hasn't got any magic powers.**

"That must be awful." Said Isabel sadly

** Kind of the opposite of Muggle-born wizards, but Squibs are quite unusual. If Filch's trying to learn magic from a Kwikspell course, I reckon he must be a Squib. It would explain a lot. Like why he hates students so much." Ron gave a satisfied smile. "He's bitter."**

"Ronald! That is no way to treat a teacher!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"But he isn't a teacher Mum!"

**A clock chimed somewhere.**  
**"Midnight," said Harry. "We'd better get to bed before Snape comes along and tries to frame us for something else."**  
**For a few days, the school could talk of little else but the attack on Mrs. Norris. Filch kept it fresh in everyone's minds by pacing the spot where she had been attacked, as though he thought the attacker might come back. Harry had seen him scrubbing the message on the wall with Mrs. Skower's All-Purpose Magical Mess Remover, but to no effect; the words still gleamed as brightly as ever on the stone.**

"Of course they did," Ginny whispered.

**When Filch wasn't guarding the scene of the crime, he was skulking red-eyed through the corridors, lunging out at unsuspecting students and trying to put them in detention for things like "breathing loudly' and "looking happy."**

Jenna made a sound of disbelief.

**Ginny Weasley seemed very disturbed by Mrs. Norris's fate. According to Ron, she was a great cat lover.**

"That wasn't it," Ginny whispered, and to Duncan's ears she sounded to the point of tears.

**"But you haven't really got to know Mrs. Norris," Ron told her bracingly. "Honestly, we're much better off without her." Ginny's lip trembled. "Stuff like this doesn't often happen at Hogwarts," Ron assured her. "They'll catch the maniac who did it and have him out of here in no time. I just hope he's got time to Petrify Filch before he's expelled. I'm only joking -" Ron added hastily as Ginny blanched.**

"Honestly Ron, have you no tact?" Hermione asked, shaking her head.

"I've got tact!" Ron protested. "I just choose not to show it."

"Because you don't have any." The twins chorused.

**The attack had also had an effect on Hermione. It was quite usual for Hermione to spend a lot of time reading, but she was now doing almost nothing else. Duncan was almost as keen as her. Nor could Harry and Ron get much response from them when they asked what they was up to, and not until the following Wednesday did they find out.**  
**Harry and Duncan had been held back in Potions, where Snape had made them stay behind to scrape tubeworms off the desks. After a hurried lunch, they went upstairs to meet Ron in the library, and saw Justin Finch-Fletchley, the Hufflepuff boy from Herbology, coming toward them. Harry had just opened his mouth to say hello when Justin caught sight of them, turned abruptly, and sped off in the opposite direction.**

Everyone who didn't know about the attacks looked at him in anger and confusion, Justin only shrank in his seat

**Harry and Duncan found Ron at the back of the library, measuring his History of Magic homework. Professor Binns had asked for a three foot long composition on "The Medieval Assembly of European Wizards."**

"I'll never understand why he assigns homework when he knows that no one listens to him!" Ron ranted.

**"I don't believe it, I'm still eight inches short said Ron furiously, letting go of his parchment, which sprang back into a roll. And Hermione's done four feet seven inches and her writing's tiny."**

"Well the homework is quite easy if you pay attention Ronald," Hermione said mockingly.

**"Where is she?" asked Harry, grabbing the tape measure and unrolling his own homework.**  
**"Somewhere over there," said Ron, pointing along the shelves. "Looking for another book. I think she's trying to read the whole library before Christmas."**  
**Harry told Ron about Justin Finch-Fletchley running away from him and Duncan.**  
**"Dunno why you care. I thought he was a bit of an idiot," said Ron,**

**"**HEY!"

"Sorry."

** scribbling away, making his writing as large as possible. "All that junk about Lockhart being so great-"**  
**Hermione emerged from between the bookshelves. She looked irritable and at last seemed ready to talk to them.**  
**"All the copies of Hogwarts, A History have been taken out,"**

"What!? People are actually reading that book? The world has ended!" The twins cried, alternating sentences.

**she said, sitting down next to Harry, Duncan and Ron. "And there's a two-week waiting list. I wish I hadn't left my copy at home, but I couldn't fit it in my trunk with all the Lockhart books."**  
**"Why do you want it?" said Harry.**  
**"It's obvious, isn't it? The same reason everyone else wants it," said Duncan, "to read up on the legend of the Chamber of Secrets."**

"Of course!" Belloc said, slapping a hand to his forehead. "That's where it was from!"

"You knew about it already?" Duncan asked, a little put out.

"I remembered reading about the legend and vaguely recall the details, but I couldn't remember where I had read it." Belloc said shrugging.

**"What's that?" said Harry quickly.**  
**"That's just it. I can't remember," said Hermione, biting her lip. "And I can't find the story anywhere else-"**  
**"Hermione, let me read your composition," said Ron desperately, checking his watch.**

"You should really know better than to copy Ronald," Mrs. Weasley said and her husband chuckled.

"Especially since Hermione would never let you," Mr. Weasley added.

**"No, I won't," said Hermione, suddenly severe. "You've had ten days to finish it-"**  
**"I only need another two inches, come on-"**  
**The bell rang. Ron and Hermione led the way to History of Magic, bickering.**  
**History of Magic was the dullest subject on their schedule. Professor Binns, who taught it, was their only ghost teacher, and the most exciting thing that ever happened in his classes was his entering the room through the blackboard.**

"Hm…it used to be the floor," Remus mused.

**Ancient and shriveled, many people said he hadn't noticed he was dead. He had simply got up to teach one day and left his body behind him in an armchair in front of the staff room fire; his routine had not varied in the slightest since.**  
**Today was as boring as ever. Professor Binns opened his notes and began to read in a flat drone like an old vacuum cleaner until nearly everyone in the class was in a deep stupor, occasionally coming to long enough to copy down a name or date, then falling asleep again. He had been speaking for half an hour when something happened that had never happened before. Hermione put up her hand.**

"Er…doesn't that happen quite a lot?" Fred asked.

"Yes but she put her hand up in History. Interrupting Binns." Harry said slowly.

**Professor Binns, glancing up in the middle of a deadly dull lecture on the International Warlock Convention of 1289, looked amazed.**  
**"Miss - er -?"**

"It's amazing how he never knows his students names. You would think that with being a ghost, his memory would have improved."

**"Granger, Professor. I was wondering if you could tell us anything about the Chamber of Secrets," said Hermione in a clear voice.**  
**Duncan, who had been sitting with his mouth hanging open, gazing out of the window, jerked out of his trance; Lavender Brown's head came up off her arms and Neville Longbottom's elbow slipped off his desk.**

"Oops," Neville said sheepishly and people hid their chuckles out of respect for him.

**Professor Binns blinked.**  
**"My subject is History of Magic," he said in his dry, wheezy voice. "I deal with facts , Miss Granger, not myths and legends." He cleared his throat with a small noise like chalk slipping and continued, "In September of that year, a subcommittee of Sardinian sorcerers-"**

"But weren't all myths and legends once based on fact?" Those who knew what Hermione had said next that day in class stared at Margaret in amazement.

**He stuttered to a halt. Hermione's hand was waving in the air again.**  
**"Miss Grant?"**  
**"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?"**

"It's scary that those two think alike," Ron said and both Margaret and Hermione blushed.

**Professor Binns was looking at her in such amazement, Harry was sure no student had ever interrupted him before, alive or dead.**

"I'm almost certain that no one has," Dumbledore said with a smile.

**"Well," said Professor Binns slowly, "yes, one could argue that, I suppose." He peered at Hermione as though he had never seen a student properly before. "However, the legend of which you speak is such a very sensational , even ludicrous tale-"**  
**But the whole class was now hanging on Professor Binns's every word. He looked dimly at them all, every face turned to his. Duncan could tell he was completely thrown by such an unusual show of interest.**

"Of course, all it took was a petrified cat and some writing on a wall," Ron said, oblivious to the effect his casual words had on his sister. He was also oblivious to the glare Hermione was giving him, but that could have been from practice.

**"Oh, very well," he said slowly. "Let me see... the Chamber of Secrets...**  
**"You all know, of course, that Hogwarts was founded over a thousand years ago - the precise date is uncertain - by the four greatest witches and wizards of the age. The four school Houses are named after them: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. They built this castle together, far from prying Muggle eyes, for it was an age when magic was feared by common people, and witches and wizards suffered much persecution."**

"They still did, much into the 1700's until the art of witchcraft was disbanded and people began to lose faith," Remus said.

"No! It's break! We –"

"Shouldn't have to be learning!"

**He paused, gazed blearily around the room, and continued.**  
**"For a few years, the founders worked in harmony together, seeking out youngsters who showed signs of magic and bringing them to the castle to be educated. But then disagreements sprang up between them. A rift began to grow between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to be more selective about the students admitted to Hogwarts. He believed that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He disliked taking students of Muggle parentage, believing them to be untrustworthy.**

"And yet," Hermione said tartly, "Look at who is more hated and is causing more damage in the world. Muggleborns or Slytherins?"

**After a while, there was a serious argument on the subject between Slytherin and Gryffindor,**

"Which hasn't ended yet." Commented Kenny dryly

**and Slytherin left the school."**  
**Professor Binns paused again, pursing his lips, looking like a wrinkled old tortoise.**  
**"Reliable historical sources tell us this much," he said. "But these honest facts have been obscured by the fanciful legend of the Chamber of Secrets. The story goes that Slytherin had built a hidden chamber in the castle, of which the other founders knew nothing.**  
**"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Secrets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic."**

There were a few shudders around the room, particularly from Hermione and Ginny.

**There was silence as he finished telling the story, but it wasn't the usual, sleepy silence that filled Professor Binns's classes. There was unease in the air as everyone continued to watch him, hoping for more. Professor Binns looked faintly annoyed.**  
**"The whole thing is arrant nonsense, of course," he said. "Naturally, the school has been searched for evidence of such a chamber, many times, by the most learned witches and wizards. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."**

"But if they were not Slytherin's heir, how could they be expected to find what he had hidden?" Belloc reasoned out loud.

**Hermione's hand was back in the air.**  
**"Sir - what exactly do you mean by the horror within the Chamber?"**  
**"That is believed to be some sort of monster, which the Heir of Slytherin alone can control," said Professor Binns in his dry, reedy voice.**  
**The class exchanged nervous looks.**  
**"I tell you, the thing does not exist," said Professor Binns, shuffling his notes. "There is no Chamber and no monster."**  
**"But, sir," said Seamus Finnigan, "if the Chamber can only be opened by Slytherin's true heir, no one else would be able to find it, would they?"**

"_Huh_," Harry said in surprise, looking at Duncan. _"Did you think Seamus would be able to think like a...?"_

"Nope," Duncan shook his head. "_That could say more for Dad than it does for Seamus though."  
_  
**"Nonsense, O'Flaherty," said Professor Binns in an aggravated tone. "If a long succession of Hogwarts headmasters and headmistresses haven't found the thing-"**  
**"But, Professor," piped up Parvati Patil, "you'd probably have to use Dark Magic to open it-"**  
**"Just because a wizard doesn't use Dark Magic doesn't mean he can't , Miss Pennyfeather," snapped Professor Binns. "I repeat, if the likes of Dumbledore-"**  
**"But maybe you've got to be related to Slytherin, so Dumbledore couldn't -" began Duncan, but Professor Binns had had enough.**  
**"That will do," he said sharply. "It is a myth! It does not exist! There is not a shred of evidence that Slytherin ever built so much as a secret broom cupboard! I regret telling you such a foolish story!**

"No its not, yes it does, yes there is, and yes you do." Duncan answered, ticking off the questions one by one. "Did I get them all?"

"You forgot to mention what's in the Chamber," Belloc told him. But unfortunately for him, Duncan had his mother's knack for sensing a trap and easily side stepped it.

"Yes I did, didn't I?" Duncan answered with a grin. "You'll have to wait and see."

**We will return, if you please, to history , to solid, believable, verifiable fact!"**  
**And within five minutes, the class had sunk back into its usual torpor.**  
**"I always knew Salazar Slytherin was a twisted old loony," Ron told Harry, Duncan and Hermione as they fought their way through the teeming corridors at the end of the lesson to drop off their bags before dinner. "But I never knew he started all this pure-blood stuff. I wouldn't be in his house if you paid me. Honestly, if the Sorting Hat had tried to put me in Slytherin, I'd've got the train straight back home..."**  
**Hermione nodded fervently, but the Evans didn't say anything. His stomach had just dropped unpleasantly.**

"You should have known that we wouldn't have cared," Hermione told him gently.

"Yeah but after hearing that speech, can you blame me for not telling you?"

**Neither Harry nor Duncan had never told Ron and Hermione that the Sorting Hat had seriously considered putting them in Slytherin. They could remember, as though it were yesterday, the small voice that had spoken in his ear when he'd placed the hat on his head a year before : You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that...**

"You don't need to be put in a certain house to achieve greatness," Dumbledore said wisely. "That alone depends on your actions and how you live your life."

**But them, who had already heard of Slytherin House's reputation for turning out Dark wizards, had thought desperately, Not Slytherin! and the hat had said, Oh, well, if you're sure... better be Gryffindor ...**  
**As they were shunted along in the throng, Colin Creevy went past.**  
**"Hiya, Harry!"**

"He never stops does he?" George wondered.

Harry shook his head. "He's gotten better over the years really."

**"Hullo, Colin," said Harry automatically.**  
**"Harry - Harry - a boy in my class has been saying you and your cousin're-"**  
**But Colin was so small he couldn't fight against the tide of people bearing him toward the Great Hall; they heard him squeak, "See you, Harry!" and he was gone.**  
**"What's a boy in his class saying about you?" Hermione wondered.**  
**"That we're Slytherin's heir, I expect," said Harry, his stomach dropping another inch or so as he suddenly remembered the way Justin Finch-Fletchley had run away from him at lunchtime.**  
**"People here'll believe anything," said Ron in disgust.**

"Well they weren't far off were they?" Harry said under his breath ignoring the sharp look Remus sent him.

**The crowd thinned and they were able to climb the next staircase without difficulty.**  
**"D'you really think there's a Chamber of Secrets?" Ron asked Hermione.**  
**"I don't know," she said, frowning. "Dumbledore couldn't cure Mrs. Norris, and that makes me think that whatever attacked her might not be - well - human."**

"Not human?" Remus muttered to himself, frowning as he thought. "But if Slytherin could control it…and he was a…then it would have to be…" Remus frowned again before continuing to muse in his own thoughts.

**Duncan turned to look at her warily. **

Belloc raised an eyebrow towards him

**As she spoke, they turned a corner and found themselves at the end of the very corridor where the attack had happened. They stopped and looked. The scene was just as it had been that night, except that there was no stiff cat hanging from the torch bracket, and an empty chair stood against the wall bearing the message "The Chamber of Secrets has been Opened."**  
**"That's where Filch has been keeping guard," Ron muttered.**  
**They looked at each other. The corridor was deserted.**

"Why do I get the feeling that you are going to be poking around and are going to get caught?" Neville wondered aloud.

"Are we really that predictable?" Harry asked in return.

"Yes!" Most of the staff and adults replied.

**"Can't hurt to have a poke around,"**

"See!"

**said Harry, dropping his bag and getting to his hands and knees so that he could crawl along, searching for clues.**  
**"Scorch marks!" he said. "Here - and here-"**  
**"Come and look at this!" said Hermione. "This is funny..."**  
**Harry got up and crossed to the window next to the message on the wall. Hermione was pointing at the topmost pane, where around twenty spiders were scuttling, apparently fighting to get through a small crack. A long, silvery thread was dangling like a rope, as though they had all climbed it in their hurry to get outside.**

_Spiders are fleeing from whatever Slytherin hid…what creature do spiders flee from?_ Belloc thought to himself. He had the feeling that the answer was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't figure it out. Not yet at least.

**"Have you ever seen spiders act like that?" said Hermione wonderingly.**  
**"No," said Harry and Duncan together, "have you, Ron? Ron?"**  
**He looked over his shoulder. Ron was standing well back and seemed to be fighting the impulse to run.**  
**"What's up?" said Harry.**  
**"I - don't - like - spiders," said Ron tensely.**

Fred and George looked at one another and started to laugh.

**"I never knew that," said Hermione, looking at Ron in surprise. "You've used spiders in Potions loads of times..."**  
**"I don't mind them dead," said Ron, who was carefully looking anywhere but at the window. "I just don't like the way they move..."**  
**Hermione giggled.**  
**"It's not funny," said Ron, fiercely. "If you must know, when I was three, Fred turned my - my teddy bear into a great big filthy spider because I broke his toy broomstick... You wouldn't like them either if you'd been holding your bear and suddenly it had too many legs and..."**

"Fred Weasley! You did that to your brother?!" Fred recoiled from his mother's anger. "And you laugh about it?!"

"I didn't know he would get that scared of them Mum!" Fred protested, trying to save himself.

**He broke off, shuddering. Hermione was obviously still trying not to laugh. Duncan winced in sympathy. Feeling they had better get off the subject, Harry said, "Remember all that water on the floor? Where did that come from? Someone's mopped it up."**  
**"It was about here," said Ron, recovering himself to walk a few paces past Filch's chair and pointing. "Level with this door."**  
**He reached for the brass doorknob but suddenly withdrew his hand as though he'd been burned.**

"What's the matter?" Isabel asked, speaking up for the first time since the last chapter.

**"What's the matter?" said Harry.**

"Aww! They think alike!" Fred and George cooed, much to Isabel's and Harry's embarrassment. Hermione just smirked knowingly.

**"Can't go in there," said Ron gruffly. "That's a girls' toilet."**

**"Oh, Ron, there won't be anyone in there," said Hermione standing up and coming over. "That's Moaning Myrtle's place. Come on, let's have a look."**  
**And ignoring the large OUT of ORDER sign, she opened the door.**

"Hermione Granger broke a rule?" Fred gasped.

"Someone alert the Daily Prophet!" George agreed.

"Who knows Harry? This young lady might have taken your spot on the front page!"

"Good." Harry said firmly.

**It was the gloomiest, most depressing bathroom Harry had ever set foot in. Under a large, cracked, and spotted mirror were a row of chipped sinks. The floor was damp and reflected the dull light given off by the stubs of a few candles, burning low in their holders; the wooden doors to the stalls were flaking and scratched and one of them was dangling off its hinges.**  
**Hermione put her fingers to her lips and set off toward the end stall. When she reached it she said, "Hello, Myrtle, how are you?"**  
**Harry, Duncan and Ron went to look. Moaning Myrtle was floating above the tank of the toilet, picking a spot on her chin.**  
**"This is a girls bathroom," she said, eyeing Ron, Harry and Duncan suspiciously. "They're not girls."**

"Well spotted," Ron said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Ginny and Hermione exchanged looks and decided that they should have a word with Fred and George for Halloween next year.

**"No," Hermione agreed. "I just wanted to show them how er - nice it is in here."**  
**She waved vaguely at the dirty old mirror and the damp floor.**

"Very true," George agreed.

"Oh Georgie! It's our dream home!" Fred sighed happily.

**"Ask her if she saw anything," Harry mouthed at Hermione.**  
**"What are you whispering?" said Myrtle, staring at him.**  
**"Nothing," said Harry quickly. "We wanted to ask-"**  
**"I wish people would stop talking behind my back!" said Myrtle, in a voice choked with tears. "I do have feelings, you know, even if I am dead-"**  
**"Myrtle, no one wants to upset you," said Hermione. "Harry only-"**  
**"No one wants to upset me! That's a good one!" howled Myrtle. "My life was nothing but misery at this place and now people come along ruining my death!"**  
**"We wanted to ask you if you've seen anything funny lately," said Duncan quickly. "Because a cat was attacked right outside your front door on Halloween."**  
**"Did you see anyone near here that night?" said Harry.**  
**"I wasn't paying attention," said Myrtle dramatically. "Peeves upset me so much I came in here and tried to kill myself. Then, of course, I remembered that I'm - that I'm-"**  
**"Already dead," said Ron helpfully.**

"Again with the tact," Hermione commented off handedly.

"I have tact!" Ron protested again, but it was only half-hearted.

**Myrtle gave a tragic sob, rose up in the air, turned over, and dived headfirst into the toilet, splashing water all over them and vanishing from sight, although from the direction of her muffled sobs, she had come to rest somewhere in the U-bend.**  
**Harry, Duncan and Ron stood with their mouths open, but Hermione shrugged wearily and said, "Honestly, that was almost cheerful for Myrtle... Come on, let's go."**  
**Harry had barely closed the door on Myrtle's gurgling sobs when a loud voice made all three of them jump.**  
**"RON!"**

"What was Mum doing at Hogwarts?" Fred wondered and everyone sniggered at the look on Mrs. Weasley's face.

**Percy Weasley**

"Oh." Fred said, his smile dropping. "Never mind I said anything."

**had stopped dead at the head of the stairs, prefect badge agleam, an expression of complete shock on his face.**  
**"That's a girls bathroom!" he gasped. "What were you -?"**

"What did you think I was doing Percy?" Ron asked his older brother seriously, but he was ignored.

**"Just having a look around," Ron shrugged. "Clues, you know-"**  
**Percy swelled in a manner that reminded Harry forcefully of Mrs. Weasley.**

Percy blushed a bright red and looked down at the table while his mother's eyes grew misty.

**"Get - away - from - there -" Perry said, striding toward them and starting to bustle them along, flapping his arms. "Don't you care what this looks like? Coming back here while everyone's at dinner-"**  
**"Why shouldn't we be here?" said Ron hotly, stopping short and glaring at Percy. "Listen, we never laid a finger on that cat!"**  
**"That's what I told Ginny," said Percy fiercely, "but she still seems to think you're going to be expelled, I've never seen her so upset, crying her eyes out, you might think of her , all the first years are thoroughly overexcited by this business-"**  
**"You don't care about Ginny," said Ron, whose ears were now reddening. "You're just worried I'm going to mess up your chances of being Head Boy-"**

"No it wasn't his chances at Head Boy Ron," George said shaking his head.

"It was mentioning his family." Fred finished harshly.

"Boys." Remus said quietly and he shook his head, glancing over at Mrs. Weasley who had her head buried in hopes that she wouldn't see her third eldest son ignoring her.

**"Five points from Gryffindor!" Percy said tersely, fingering his prefect badge. "And I hope it teaches you a lesson! No more detective work , or I'll write to Mum!"**  
**And he strode off, the back of his neck as red as Ron's ears.**  
**Harry, Duncan, Ron, and Hermione chose seats as far as possible from Percy in the common room that night. Ron was still in a very bad temper and kept blotting his Charms homework. When he reached absently for his wand to remove the smudges, it ignited the parchment. Fuming almost as much as his homework, Ron slammed The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 shut. To Harry's surprise, Hermione followed suit.**  
**"Who can it be, though?" she said in a quiet voice, as though continuing a conversation they had just been having. "Who'd want to frighten all the Squibs and Muggle-borns out of Hogwart's?"**

"Gee I wonder who?" Fred grumbled.

**"Let's think," said Duncan in mock puzzlement. "Who do we know who thinks Muggle-borns are scum?"**  
**He looked at Hermione. Hermione looked back, unconvinced.**  
**"If you're talking about Malfoy-"**

"Who else?" Like his brother, George was grumbling.

**"Of course I am!" said Duncan. "You heard him - You'll be next, Mudbloods!'- come on, you've only got to look at his foul rat face to know it's him-"**  
**"Malfoy, the Heir of Slytherin?" said Hermione skeptically.**  
**"Look at his family," said Harry, closing his books, too. "The whole lot of them have been in Slytherin; he's always boasting about it. They could easily be Slytherin's descendants. His father's definitely evil enough."**  
**"They could've had the key to the Chamber of Secrets for centuries!" said Ron. "Handing it down, father to son ..."**

"No," Remus said, shaking his head. "It wouldn't be the Malfoys."

"What makes you say that?" Ron asked.

"They wouldn't do it while one of their own was at the school. Even if they could control whatever is down there, they would more than likely get someone else to do their bidding. They never have direct involvement, that way they can back out at any time with arousing suspicions." Remus answered thoughtfully.

**"Well," said Hermione cautiously, "I suppose it's possible..."**  
**"But how do we prove it?" said Duncan darkly.**  
**"There might be a way," said Hermione slowly, dropping her voice still further with a quick glance across the room at Percy. "Of course, it would be difficult. And dangerous, very dangerous. We'd be breaking about fifty school rules, I expect-"**  
**"If, in a month or so, you feel like explaining, you will let us know, won't you?" said Ron irritably.**  
**"All right," said Hermione coldly. "What we'd need to do is to get inside the Slytherin common room and ask Malfoy a few questions without him realizing it's us."**  
**"But that's impossible," Harry said as Ron laughed.**

"No its not, not without…" Remus trailed off and looked at Hermione. "You didn't."

"Actually is not impossible. For me, at least." Belloc mused under his breath

Against her will, Hermione blushed, giving him all the answer he needed.

**"No, it's not," said Hermione. "All we'd need would be some Polyjuice Potion."**  
**"Hermione what the hell?!" asked Duncan in amazement**

**"What's that?" said Ron and Harry together.  
"Snape mentioned it in class a few weeks ago-"  
****"D'you think we've got nothing better to do in Potions than listen to Snape?" muttered Ron.**  
**"It transforms you into somebody else. Think about it! We could change into three of the Slytherins. No one would know it was us. Malfoy would probably tell us anything. He's probably boasting about it in the Slytherin common room right now, if only we could hear him." Explained Duncan**  
**"This Polyjuice stuff sounds a bit dodgy to me," said Ron, frowning. "What if we were stuck looking like three of the Slytherins forever?"**  
**"It wears off after a while," said Hermione, waving her hand impatiently. "But getting hold of the recipe will be very difficult. Snape said it was in a book called Moste Potente Potions and it's bound to be in the Restricted Section of the library." There was only one way to get out a book from the Restricted Section: You needed a signed note of permission from a teacher."**

"Hard to see why we'd want the book, really," said Ron, "if we weren't going to try and make one of the potions."

**"I think," said Hermione, "that if we made it sound as though we were just interested in the theory, we might stand a chance..."**  
**"Oh, come on, no teacher's going to fall for that," said Ron. "They'd have to be really thick..."**

Belloc grinned

"Who wants to read next?"

* * *

_**Another over! Review!**_


	13. The rouge bludgers

**Hello guys! Here's another chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

"So it's my turn right?" Fred asked as he reached for the book. He flipped to the right page and cleared his throat dramatically. "**Chapter Ten: The Rogue Bludgers**" He looked at the Evans who nodded in confirmation

**Since the disastrous episode of the pixies, Professor Lockhart had not brought live creatures to class. Instead, he read passages from his books to them, and sometimes reenacted some of the more dramatic bits.**

"I have the feeling I wouldn't like it." Commented Isabel

**He usually picked one of the Evans to help him with these reconstructions; so far, Harry and Duncan had been forced to play a simple Transylvanian villager whom Lockhart had cured of a Babbling Curse, a yeti with a head cold, and a vampire who had been unable to eat anything except lettuce since Lockhart had dealt with him.**  
**Duncan was hauled to the front of the class during their very next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, this time acting a werewolf.**

"What is it with these books and all the werewolf references?" Remus grumbled, mostly to himself.

**If he hadn't had a very good reason for keeping Lockhart in a good mood, he would have refused to do it.**  
**"Nice loud howl, Duncan - exactly - and then, if you'll believe it, I pounced - like this – **

Harry, Ron and Hermione started laughing.

"Lockhart tried to pounce, but Duncan stepped aside and Lockhart landed face-first on the floor." Ron laughed, causing the Hall to laugh with him

**slammed him to the floor - thus with one hand, I managed to hold him down - with my other, I put my wand to his throat - I then screwed up my remaining strength and performed the immensely complex Homorphus Charm- he let out a piteous moan - go on, Harry - higher than that - good - the fur vanished - the fangs shrank - and he turned back into a man.**

"Should someone tell him that it is impossible for a werewolf to change back unless that moon has retreated?" Remus said.

"I really don't think it matters anymore," Duncan smirked at Ron who blushed.

**Simple, yet effective - and another village will remember me forever as the hero who delivered them from the monthly terror of werewolf attacks."**  
**The bell rang and Lockhart got to his feet.**  
**"Homework - compose a poem about my defeat of the Wagga Wagga Werewolf!**

"A poem?" grimaced Duncan in despair. "It was horrible; I can write stories and such, but not poems"

** Signed copies of Magical Me to the author of the best one!"**

"Let me guess, Hermione won the copy?" Kenny wondered teasingly.

"Oh shut up," Hermione answered blushing.

**The class began to leave. Duncan returned to the back of the room, where Ron, Harry and Hermione were waiting.**  
**"Ready?" Harry muttered.**  
**"Wait till everyone's gone,"**

Belloc nodded approvingly

** said Hermione nervously. "All right..."**  
**She approached Lockhart's desk, a piece of paper clutched tightly in her hand, Harry, Duncan and Ron right behind her.**  
**"Er - Professor Lockhart?" Hermione stammered. "I wanted to - to get this book out of the library. Just for background reading." She held out the piece of paper, her hand shaking slightly. "But the thing is, it's in the Restricted Section of the library, so I need a teacher to sign for it - I'm sure it would help me understand what you say in Gadding with Ghouls about slow-acting venoms."**

"You're quite good at this buttering up to teachers thing aren't you?" George teased and when he went to open his mouth to continue, he found that he no longer had a voice.

"Would you be so kind as to continue Fred?" Hermione said innocently and Fred hurriedly resumed reading.

**"Ah, Gadding with Ghouls!" said Lockhart, taking the note from Hermione and smiling widely at her. "Possibly my very favorite book. You enjoyed it?"**  
**"Oh, yes," said Hermione eagerly. "So clever, the way you trapped that last one with the tea-strainer-"**

"A tea strainer?" Belloc repeated, looking at Hermione incredulously, only to find that she was playing with her wand and he redirected his attention to Fred.

**"Well, I'm sure no one will mind me giving the best student of the year a little extra help," said Lockhart warmly, and he pulled out an enormous peacock quill. "Yes, nice, isn't it?" he said, misreading the revolted look on Ron's face. "I usually save it for book-signings."**  
**He scrawled an enormous loopy signature on the note and handed it back to Hermione.**  
**"So, Harry," said Lockhart, while Hermione folded the note with fumbling fingers and slipped it into her bag.**

Kenny raised an eyebrow but said nothing, noting the wand in her hands.

**"Tomorrow's the first Quidditch match of the season, I believe? Gryffindor against Slytherin, is it not? I hear you're a useful player. I was a Seeker, too.**

"When was this?" Remus asked dumbfounded. "Supposedly he refused to take flying lessons because he didn't want to mess up his hair."

**I was asked to try for the National Squad, but preferred to dedicate my life to the eradication of the Dark Forces. Still, if ever you feel the need for a little private training, don't hesitate to ask. Always happy to pass on my expertise to less able players..."**

"Less able players?" George sputtered, having just gotten his voice back. "Is he joking?"

Harry shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."

**Harry and Duncan made an indistinct noise in their throat and then hurried off after Ron and Hermione.**  
**"I don't believe it," he said as the three of them examined the signature on the note. "He didn't even look at the book we wanted."**  
**"That's because he's a brainless git," said Ron. "But who cares, we've got what we needed-"**  
**"He is not a brainless git," said Hermione shrilly as they half ran toward the library.**

"Yes he is!" All of the students shouted and McGonagall and Snape nodded.

**"Just because he said you were the best student of the year-"**  
**They dropped their voices as they entered the muffled stillness of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, was a thin, irritable woman who looked like an underfed vulture.**

Remus chuckled at the description of the librarian.

**"Moste Potente Potions?" she repeated suspiciously, trying to take the note from Hermione; but Hermione wouldn't let go.**  
**"I was wondering if I could keep it," she said breathlessly.**  
**"Oh, come on," said Ron, wrenching it from her grasp and thrusting it at Madam Pince. "We'll get you another autograph. Lockhart'll sign anything if it stands still long enough."**

"Even if he can't remember why he's signing things," Ron grumbled.

**Madam Pince held the note up to the light, as though determined to detect a forgery, but it passed the test. She stalked away between the lofty shelves and returned several minutes later carrying a large and moldy-looking book. Hermione put it carefully into her bag and they left, trying not to walk too quickly or look too guilty.**

"We need to work on that," Duncan mused.

**Five minutes later, they were barricaded in Moaning Myrtle's out-of-order bathroom once again. Hermione had overridden Ron's objections by pointing out that it was the last place anyone in their right minds would go,**

"So does that mean you aren't in your right mind?" George asked Hermione.

"We knew about Ron of course, and the Evans were suspected but –" Fred said.

"Hermione Granger?" They finished together.

**so they were guaranteed some privacy. Moaning Myrtle was crying noisily in her stall, but they were ignoring her, and she them.**  
**Hermione opened Moste Potente Potions carefully, and the three of them bent over the damp-spotted pages. It was clear from a glance why it belonged in the Restricted Section. Some of the potions had effects almost too gruesome to think about, and there were some very unpleasant illustrations, which included a man who seemed to have been turned inside out and a witch sprouting several extra pairs of arms out of her head.**

"They were really bad," Ron said, looking slightly green and was suddenly wishing they hadn't just finished lunch.

**"Here it is," said Hermione excitedly as she found the page headed The Polyjuice Potion. It was decorated with drawings of people halfway through transforming into other people. Harry sincerely hoped the artist had imagined the looks of intense pain on their faces.**

"Not really," Harry grumbled.

**"This is the most complicated potion I've ever seen," said Hermione as they scanned the recipe. "Lacewing flies, leeches, fluxweed, and knotgrass," she murmured, running her finger down the list of ingredients. "Well, they're easy enough, they're in the student store-cupboard, we can help ourselves... Oooh, look, powdered horn of a bicorn - don't know where we're going to get that - shredded skin of a boomslang -. that'll be tricky, too and of course a bit of whoever we want to change into."**  
**"Excuse me?" said Ron sharply. "What d'you mean, a bit of whoever we're changing into? I'm drinking nothing with Crabbe's toenails in it-"**

"Oh it wouldn't be toenails Ronald," Luna said dreamily, easily ignoring the curious looks.

**Hermione continued as though she hadn't heard him.**  
**"We don't have to worry about that yet, though, because we add those bits last..."**  
**Ron turned, speechless, to Harry, who had another worry.**  
**"D'you realize how much we're going to have to steal, Hermione? Shredded skin of a boomslang, that's definitely not in the students' cupboard. What're we going to do, break into Snape's private stores? I don't know if this is a good idea..."**

Snape suddenly glared at the three Gryffindors. He had known that the Evans had stolen from him, but no one had listened to him!

**Duncan glared at him, growling lowly.**  
**"Well, if you two are going to chicken out, fine," he said. His eyes were brighter than usual. "I don't want to risk to be expelled again, you know. I think threatening Muggle-borns is far worse than brewing up a difficult potion. But if you don't want to find out if it's Malfoy, I'll go straight to Madam Pince now and hand the book back in."**

"You really are manipulative" Belloc told Duncan with a smile.

"Sometimes," he said with a grin.

**"I'm with Duncan." Said Hermione sharply**

**"I never thought I'd see the day when you'd be persuading us to break rules," said Ron. "All right, we'll do it. But not toenails, okay?"**  
**"How long will it take to make, anyway?" said Harry as Hermione, looking happier, opened the book again.**  
**"Well, since the fluxweed has got to be picked at the full moon**

Remus closed his eyes briefly as the moon was mentioned. He only had a few days left…

**and the lacewings have got to be stewed for twenty-one days... I'd say it'd be ready in about a month, if we can get all the ingredients."**  
**"A month?" said Ron. "Malfoy could have attacked half the Muggle-borns in the school by then!" But Duncan's eyes narrowed dangerously again, and he added swiftly, "But it's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead, I say."**  
**However, while Hermione was checking that the coast was clear for them to leave the bathroom, Ron muttered to Harry, "It'll be a lot less hassle if you can just knock Malfoy off his broom tomorrow."**

"Oh yeah except it wasn't him was it?" Harry said sarcastically.

**Harry woke early on Saturday morning and lay for a while thinking about the coming Quidditch match. He was nervous, mainly at the thought of what Wood would say if Gryffindor lost, but also at the idea of facing a team mounted on the fastest racing brooms gold could buy. He had never wanted to beat Slytherin so badly. **

**"**Me too" said Kass

**After half an hour of lying there with his insides churning, he got up, dressed, and went down to breakfast early, where he found the rest of the Gryffindor team huddled at the long, empty table, all looking uptight and not speaking much.**

**"**The waiting is always the worst part" said Duncan

**As eleven o'clock approached, the whole school started to make its way down to the Quidditch stadium. It was a muggy sort of day with a hint of thunder in the air. Ron and Hermione came hurrying over to wish Harry good luck as he entered the locker rooms. The team pulled on their scarlet Gryffindor robes, then sat down to listen to Wood's usual pre-match pep talk.**

"The same one as last year?" Neville wondered but Fred shook his head.

"Nope, this one was actually inspiring."

**"Slytherin has better brooms than us," he began. "No point denying it. But we've got better people on our brooms. We've trained harder than they have, we've been flying in all weathers -"("Too true," muttered George Weasley. "I haven't been properly dry since August")"- and we're going to make them rue the day they let that little bit of slime, Malfoy, buy his way onto their team."**  
**Chest heaving with emotion, Wood turned to Harry.**  
**"It'll be down to you, Harry, to show them that a Seeker has to have something more than a rich father. Get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying, Harry, because we've got to win today, we've got to."**

"Or die trying, oh Oliver," George said shaking his heads. Belloc meanwhile, had a bad feeling between the chapter title and that last line about what this could mean for his son and his nephew.

**"So no pressure, Harry" said Duncan, winking at him.**  
**As they walked out onto the pitch, a roar of noise greeted them; mainly cheers, because Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were anxious to see Slytherin beaten, but the Slytherins in the crowd made their boos and hisses heard, too. Madam Hooch, the Quidditch teacher, asked Flint and Wood to shake hands, which they did, giving each other threatening stares and gripping rather harder than was necessary.**

Remus shook his head. "Some things never change."

**"On my whistle," said Madam Hooch. "Three... two... one..."**  
**With a roar from the crowd to speed them upward, the fourteen players rose toward the leaden sky. Harry and Duncan flew higher than any of them, Harry squinting around for the Snitch.**  
**"All right there, Scarhead?" yelled Malfoy, shooting underneath him as though to show off the speed of his broom.**  
**Harry had no time to reply. At that very moment, a heavy black Bludger came pelting toward him; he avoided it so narrowly that he felt it ruffle his hair as it passed.**

"Too close," Margaret mumbled, already sensing that this chapter would not be good for his stress levels.

**"Close one, Harry!" said George, streaking past him with his club in his hand, ready to knock the Bludger back toward a Slytherin. Harry saw George give the Bludger a powerful whack in the direction of Adrian Pucey, but the Bludger changed direction in midair and shot straight for Harry again.**

"It was coming right at you?" Neville said fearfully. "I didn't notice…"

**Harry dropped quickly to avoid it, and George managed to hit it hard toward Malfoy. Once again, the Bludger swerved like a boomerang and shot at Harry's head.**  
**Harry put on a burst of speed and zoomed toward the other end of the pitch. He looked to his side and saw his cousin right besides him plummeting as he was being chased with the other bludger.**

"Not you too." Moaned Margaret

** He could hear the Bludgers whistling along behind them. What was going on? Bludgers never concentrated on one player like this; it was their job to try and unseat as many people as possible...**

"Unless someone tampered with it, but only someone with powerful magic could do that since all the equipment has enchantments on it to prevent cheating," Remus said out loud, though it seemed to most that he was talking to himself.

**Fred Weasley was waiting for the Bludgers at the other end. The Evans ducked as Fred swung at the Bludgers with all his might; the Bludgers were knocked off course.**  
**"Gotcha!" Fred yelled happily, but he was wrong; as though it was magnetically attracted to the Evans, the Bludgers pelted after them once more and they were forced to fly off at full speed.**  
**It had started to rain;**

"Of course it did," Hermione sighed, shaking her head.

**Harry felt heavy drops fall onto his face, splattering onto his glasses. He didn't have a clue what was going on in the rest of the game until he heard Lee Jordan, who was commentating, say, "Slytherin lead, sixty points to zero."**

There was a loud round of groaning and hisses coming from the Gryffindor and cheering coming from Slytherin.

**The Slytherins' superior brooms were clearly doing their jobs, and meanwhile the mad Bludgers were doing all it could to knock the Evans out of the air. Fred was now flying so close to him that Harry could see nothing at all except his flailing arms and had no chance to look for the Snitch, let alone catch it. George was doing the same thing with Duncan**

"Thanks guys" smiled the Evans

**"Someone's - tampered - with - this - Bludger -" Fred grunted, swinging his bat with all his might at it as it launched a new attack on Harry.**  
**"We need time out," said George, trying to signal to Wood and stop the Bludger breaking Duncan's nose at the same time.**  
**Wood had obviously got the message. Madam Hooch's whistle rang out and Harry, Duncan, Fred, and George dived for the ground, still trying to avoid the mad Bludgers.**  
**"What's going on?" said Wood as the Gryffindor team huddled together, while Slytherins in the crowd jeered. "We're being flattened. Fred, George, where were you to shot a Bludger to Pucey when he scored?"**

"Trying to stop them from murdering Harry and Duncan," Ron said with a 'duh' tone.

**"We were twenty feet above him, stopping the Bludgers from murdering Harry and Duncsn, Oliver," said George angrily.**

"Hmm, maybe you aren't so bad after all," George commented thoughtfully to his younger brother, but Ron could tell that he meant it through the teasing.

**"Someone's fixed them - they won't leave neither Harry nor Duncan alone. They hasn't gone for anyone else all game. The Slytherins must have done something to them."**  
**"But the Bludgers have been locked in Madam Hooch's office since our last practice, and there was nothing wrong with them then..." said Wood, anxiously.**

**"**Maybe someone jinxed them, who knows?" said Dean

** Madam Hooch was walking toward them. Over her shoulder, Harry could see the Slytherin team jeering and pointing in his direction.**  
**"Listen," said Harry as she came nearer and nearer, "with you flying around me all the time the only way I'm going to catch the Snitch is if it flies up my sleeve.**

**"And I can't catch the Quaffle with you always blocking me." Said Duncan**

"Oh no, here comes the selflessness," Hermione said rolling her eyes.

"What's wrong with that?" Duncan challenged.

"Nothing Duncan, just that one day you'll either get really hurt or even killed because you were trying to save someone else." Hermione stated. Duncan tried to ignore the "I-told-you-so" look that Belloc was giving him

**Go back to the rest of the team and let us deal with them."**  
**"Don't be thick," said Fred. "It'll take your head off."**  
**Wood was looking from the Evans to the Weasleys.**  
**"Oliver, this is insane," said Angelina Johnson angrily. "You can't let Harry or Duncan deal with that thing on his own. Let's ask for an inquiry..."**  
**"If we stop now, we'll have to forfeit the match!" said Duncan. "And we're not losing to Slytherin just because of crazy Bludgers! Come on, Oliver, tell them to leave us alone!"**

"You see?" Hermione said and Duncan scowled.

**"This is all your fault," George said angrily to Wood. "`Get the Snitch or die trying,' what a stupid thing to tell him-"**  
**Madam Hooch had joined them.**  
**"Ready to resume play?" she asked Wood.**  
**Wood looked at the determined look on Harry's and Duncan's face.**  
**"All right," he said. "Fred, George, you heard Harry and Duncan- leave them alone and let them deal with the Bludger on their own."**  
**The rain was falling more heavily now. On Madam Hooch's whistle, Harry and Duncan kicked hard into the air and heard the telltale whoosh of the Bludger behind them. Higher and higher they climbed; they looped and swooped, spiraled, zigzagged, and rolled. Slightly dizzy, Harry nevertheless kept his eyes wide open, rain was speckling his glasses and ran up his nostrils as he hung upside down, avoiding another fierce dive from the Bludger. He could hear laughter from the crowd; he knew he must look very stupid, but the rogue Bludger was heavy and couldn't change direction as quickly as they could;**

"Did no one honestly notice that the Bludger was following you?" Remus said incredulously.

"I think they merely thought it was a coincidence or something," Harry shrugged unconcernedly.

**Duncan began a kind of roller-coaster ride around the edges of the stadium, squinting through the silver sheets of rain to the Gryffindor goal posts, where Adrian Pucey was trying to get past Wood. He caught the Quaffle in his hands and shot in the opposite direction.**

"Go Duncan!" Maggie said quietly

**A whistling in Harry's ear told him the Bludger had just missed him again; he turned right over and sped in the opposite direction.**  
**"Training for the ballet, Potter?" yelled Malfoy as Harry was forced to do a stupid kind of twirl in midair to dodge the Bludger, and he fled, the Bludger trailing a few feet behind him; and then, glaring back at Malfoy in hatred, he saw it - the Golden Snitch. It was hovering inches above Malfoy's left ear - and Malfoy, busy laughing at Harry, hadn't seen it.**

"Of course not, the git couldn't catch the snitch even if it wasn't flying," Ron snorted.

**For an agonizing moment, Harry hung in midair, not daring to speed toward Malfoy in case he looked up and saw the Snitch.**

"Oh no, you stopped moving which means –"

**WHAM.**

"That." Belloc finished.

**He had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger had hit him at last, smashed into his elbow, and Harry felt his arm break. Dimly, dazed by the searing pain in his arm, he slid sideways on his rain-drenched broom, one knee still crooked over it, his right arm dangling useless at his side - the Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time zooming at his face - Harry swerved out of the way, one idea firmly lodged in his numb brain: get to Malfoy.**

Even though they all knew that Harry was fine, that didn't stop many of the room from paling considerably.

**Through a haze of rain and pain he dived for the shimmering, sneering face below him and saw its eyes widen with fear: Malfoy thought Harry was attacking him.**  
**"What the -" he gasped, careening out of Harry's way.**  
**Harry took his remaining hand off his broom and made a wild snatch; he felt his fingers close on the cold Snitch but was now only gripping the broom with his legs, and there was a yell from the crowd below as he headed straight for the ground, trying hard not to pass out.**

"Oh, now they know something is wrong," Remus grumbled.

**With a splattering thud he hit the mud and rolled off his broom. His arm was hanging at a very strange angle; riddled with pain, he heard, as though from a distance, a good deal of whistling and shouting. He focused on the Snitch clutched in his good hand.**  
**"Aha," he said vaguely. "We've won."**  
**And he fainted.**

Isabel winced and held Harry's hand tightly. Harry smiled at her

**Meanwhile, Duncan was thanking God for his reflexes.**

Like Belloc and Margaret were doing now

** The Bludger had almost hit him a few times. He was at Slytherin's goal posts, he evaded the Keeper and he threw the Quaffle at the post of the right, grinning when he saw the Quaffle pass through it.**

Cue Gryffindor cheers

**WHAM.**

**He had stayed still a second too long. The Bludger had hit him at last, smashed into his shoulder, and Duncan heard his bones cracking. **

Belloc hissed in sympathy for his son

** He hissed and clutched his arm to the side, plummeting to the ground, at the same time Harry caught the Snitch. The Bludger came pelting back for a second attack, this time zooming at his face…he let the broom go**

**"**You did what?! You had a broken arm, Duncan!" Margaret yelled, pale with worry.

"Don't worry Mom, I landed on my back." Said Duncan casually

** and crashed to the ground. But it didn't stopped there. He rolled in the ground, trying not to being hit by the Bludger. **

**"**Yikes" Jenna winced

**When he was besides Harry, he collapsed to the ground.**

**He came around, rain falling on his face, still lying on the field, with someone leaning over him. He saw a glitter of teeth.**

"Oh no not that git!" Dean and Seamus cried.

**"Oh, no, not you," he moaned, hearing Harry saying the same.**

"See? The Evans agrees with us!"

**"Doesn't know what they're saying," said Lockhart loudly to the anxious crowd of Gryffindors pressing around them. "Not to worry, kids. I'm about to fix your arm."**  
**"No!" said Harry. "I'll keep it like this, thanks..." Duncan nodded frantically**  
**He tried to sit up, but the pain was terrible. He heard a familiar clicking noise nearby.**

"Colin?" Ginny asked, trying to forget about what was coming in the near chapters.

**"I don't want a photo of this, Colin," he said loudly.**  
**"Lie back, kids," said Lockhart soothingly. "It's a simple charm I've used countless times-"**  
**"Why can't we just go to the hospital wing?" said Harry through clenched teeth.**  
**"They should really, Professor," said a muddy Wood, who couldn't help grinning even though his Seeker and Chaser were injured. "Great capture, Harry. And Duncan, that was really spectacular, your best yet, I'd say-"**

"Oliver," the twins sighed, shaking their heads fondly.

**Through the thicket of legs around him, Harry spotted Fred and George Weasley, wrestling the rogue Bludger into a box. It was still putting up a terrific fight.**

The two mentioned rubbed their arms and chests from where that thing bruised them as they tried to lock it up.

**"Stand back," said Lockhart, who was rolling up his jade-green sleeves.**  
**"No - don't -" said Harry weakly, but Lockhart was twirling his wand and a second later had directed it straight at Harry's arm, doing the same with Duncan a second later.**  
**A strange and unpleasant sensation started at their shoulders and spread all the way down to their fingertips. It felt as though their arms were being deflated. They didn't dare look at what was happening. He had shut his eyes, his face turned away from his arm, but his worst fears were realized as the people above him gasped and Colin Creevey began clicking away madly. His arm didn't hurt anymore - nor did it feel remotely like an arm.**

"What did he do?" Margaret sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Every time Lockhart was mentioned, she seemed to be getting a headache and at this rate, it wouldn't be long until she had a migraine.

**"Ah," said Lockhart. "Yes. Well, that can sometimes happen. But the point is, the bones are no longer broken. That's the thing to bear in mind. So, Harry, Duncan, just toddle up to the hospital wing - ah, Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, Mr. D'Kiaro, would you escort them? - and Madam Pomfrey will be able to - er - tidy you up a bit."**  
**As Harry got to his feet, he felt strangely lopsided. Taking a deep breath he looked down at his right side. What Duncan saw nearly made him pass out again.**  
**Poking out of the end of his robes was what looked like a thick, flesh-colored rubber glove.**

"Eww, ew, and ew." Ginny repeated and Neville nodded, looking disgusted.

**He tried to move his fingers. Nothing happened.**  
**Lockhart hadn't mended their bones. He had removed them.**

**Madam Pomfrey wasn't at all pleased.**

"She rarely is when anyone comes in injured," Remus pointed out.

**"You should have come straight to me!" she raged, holding up the sad, limp remainder of what, half an hour before, had been a working arm. "I can mend bones in a second - but growing them back-"**  
**"You will be able to, won't you?" said Duncan desperately.**

"Oh she'll be able to all right," Remus made a face of disgust as he thought about the Skele-Gro.

**"I'll be able to, certainly, but it will be painful," said Madam Pomfrey grimly, throwing Harry and Duncan a pair of pajamas. "You'll have to stay the night..."**  
**Hermione waited outside the curtain drawn around their beds while Ron and Nico helped them into his pajamas. It took a while to stuff the rubbery, boneless arm into a sleeve.**  
**"How can you stick up for Lockhart now, Hermione, eh?" Nico called through the curtain as he pulled Duncan's limp fingers through the cuff. "If Duncan had wanted deboning he would have asked."**  
**"Anyone can make a mistake," said Hermione. "And it doesn't hurt anymore, does it, Duncan?"**  
**"No," interrupted Harry, getting into bed. "But it doesn't do anything else either."**  
**As he swung himself onto the bed, his arm flapped pointlessly.**

"You know Harry, some things are better left unnoticed," Neville said with a grimace.

**Hermione and Madam Pomfrey came around the curtain. Madam Pomfrey was holding a large bottle of something labeled Skele-Gro.**  
**"You're in for a rough night," she said, pouring out a steaming beakerful and handing it to him. "Regrowing bones is a nasty business."**  
**So was taking the Skele-Gro. It burned Harry's mouth and throat as it went down, making him cough and splutter. Still tut-tutting about dangerous sports and inept teachers,**

There were several chuckles at the last one.

**Madam Pomfrey retreated, leaving Ron, Nico and Hermione to help Harry and Duncan gulp down some water. "We won, though," said Ron, a grin breaking across his face. "That was some catch you made. Malfoy's face... he looked ready to kill..."**

**"And that score, Duncan!" said Nico impressed**  
**"I want to know how he fixed that Bludger," said Hermione darkly.**  
**"We can add that to the list of questions we'll ask him when we've taken the Polyjuice Potion," said Harry, sinking back onto his pillows. "I hope it tastes better than this stuff..."**

"Did it?" Fred asked curiously.

Harry shook his head. "Worse."

**"If it's got bits of Slytherins in it? You've got to be joking," said Ron. Nico was already planning what he would ask Malfoy.**  
**The door of the hospital wing burst open at that moment. Filthy and soaking wet, the rest of the Gryffindor team had arrived to see Harry and Duncan. "Unbelievable flying, guys," said George. "I've just seen Marcus Flint yelling at Malfoy. Something about having the Snitch on top of his head and not noticing. Malfoy didn't seem too happy." They had brought cakes, sweets, and bottles of pumpkin juice; they gathered around Harry's bed and were just getting started on what promised to be a good party when Madam Pomfrey came storming over, shouting, "These boys need rest, they're got thirty-three bones to regrow! Out! OUT!" And Harry was left alone, with just Duncan to distract him from the stabbing pains in his limp arm.**

"I don't get why she doesn't let people stay and visit," Harry complained.

"Well she's probably afraid that they'll help you sneak out or something," Remus said wisely.

"How many times?" Harry asked, knowing from his tone that Remus was talking from experience.

"About three times. Every time after that, either James or Sirius wound up in the bed next to me." Remus answered with a smile.

**Hours and hours later, Harry woke quite suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain: His arm now felt full of large splinters. For a second, he thought that was what had woken him. Then, with a thrill of horror, he realized that someone was sponging his forehead in the dark.**  
**"Get off!" he said loudly, and then, "Dobby!"**

"Dobby?" George asked in confusion.

"What's he doing there?" Fred continued.

**The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at Harry through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose.**

**"What the-? Dobby?!" asked Duncan, who had been woken with a start**  
**"Harry and Duncan Evans came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Harry and Duncan Evans. Ah sirs, why didn't you heed Dobby? Why didn't Harry and Duncan Evans go back home when they missed the train?"**

"Wait a minute…how did he know…" Remus trailed off and his eyes widened. "That elf stopped you from getting to school? Ow!" He yelped, rubbing the back of his head and glared at Hermione while Ron laughed, glad that it wasn't him for once.

**Harry heaved himself up on his pillows and pushed Dobby's sponge away.**  
**"What're you doing here?" he said. "And how did you know I missed the train?"**  
**Dobby's lip trembled and Harry was seized by a sudden suspicion.**  
**"It was you!" he said slowly. "You stopped the barrier from letting us through!"**  
**"Indeed yes, sir," said Dobby, nodding his head vigorously, ears flapping. "Dobby hid and watched for Harry and Duncan and sealed the gateway and Dobby had to iron his hands afterward" - he showed the Evans ten long, bandaged fingers - "but Dobby didn't care, sir, for he thought Harry and Duncan was safe, and never did Dobby dream that Harry and Duncan Evans would get to school another way!"**

"Oh he just didn't know how crazy and determined they were," Ron said sadly.

"Hey it was your idea to use the car!" Harry protested.

**He was rocking backward and forward, shaking his ugly head.**  
**"Dobby was so shocked when he heard Harry and Duncan Evans was back at Hogwarts, he let his master's dinner burn! Such a flogging Dobby never had, sir..."**  
**Duncan jumped off the bed and came closer to Dobby, his expression suggesting nothing good.**  
**"You nearly got Ron and us expelled," he said fiercely. "You'd better get lost before I lose my temper, Dobby, or I might strangle you."**

"Duncan!" Hermione said reproachfully.

"Oh come on Hermione! I had a valid reason," Duncan defended and Hermione decided to let that slide.

**Dobby smiled weakly.**  
**"Dobby is used to death threats, sir. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."**  
**He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Harry felt his anger ebb away in spite of himself.**  
**"Why d'you wear that thing, Dobby?" he asked curiously.**  
**"This, sir?" said Dobby, plucking at the pillowcase. "Tis a mark of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. Dobby can only be freed if his masters present him with clothes, sir. The family is careful not to pass Dobby even a sock, sir, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."**

"You see how horrible they are treated?" Hermione said, clearly having held in her tirade long enough. "This is exactly why I started S.P.E.W! They deserve to be treated better, they should be able to serve people because they are want to and are getting pay and benefits from it!"

"What's SPEW?" asked Isabel. "Can I join?"

The reading cut the chat that those girls were going to have, much for Duncan's, Harry's and Ron's delight.

**Dobby mopped his bulging eyes and said suddenly, "Harry and Duncan must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make-"**

"His Bludger?" Maggie asked. "Was he trying to kill you?"

**"Your Bludger?" said Duncan, anger rising once more. "What d'you mean, your Bludger? You made that Bludger try and kill us?"**  
**"Not kill you, sir, never kill you!" said Dobby, shocked. "Dobby wants to save Harry and Duncan's life! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here sir! Dobby only wanted Harry and Duncan hurt enough to be sent home!"**  
**"Oh, is that all?" said Harry angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted us sent home in pieces?"**  
**"Ah, if Harry and Duncan only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If he knew what he means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, sir," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase.**

Hermione and Isabel looked at each other.

**"But mostly, sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the Dark days would never end, sir... And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more."**  
**Dobby froze, horrorstruck, then grabbed Harry's water jug from his bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of sight. A second later, he crawled back onto the bed, cross-eyed, muttering, "Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby..."**  
**"So there is a Chamber of Secrets?" Duncan whispered. "And did you say it's been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!"**

"He won't be able to," Hermione said sadly.

**He seized the elf's bony wrist as Dobby's hand inched toward the water jug. "But I'm not Muggle-born - how can I be in danger from the Chamber?"**  
**"Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby," stammered the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. "Dark deeds are planned in this place, but Harry Potter must not be here when they happen - go home, Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle in this, sir, tis too dangerous-"**  
**"Who is it, Dobby?" Duncan said, keeping a firm hold on Dobby's wrist to stop him from hitting himself with the water jug again. "Who's opened it? Who opened it last time?"**  
**"Dobby can't, sir, Dobby can't, Dobby mustn't tell!" squealed the elf. "Go home, Harry and Duncan, go home!"**  
**"I'm not going anywhere!" said Harry fiercely. "One of my best friends is Muggle-born; she'll be first in line if the Chamber really has been opened-"**  
**"Harry and Duncan risks his own life for his friends!" moaned Dobby in a kind of miserable ecstasy. "So noble! So valiant!**

"So idiotic," Maggie grinned. Duncan looked at her, and they both felt a warm feeling. The moment was ended when Duncan quickly looked away.

Maggie looked at her hand. The moon was halfway to be full.

**But they must save, they must, Harry and Duncan must not-"**  
**Dobby suddenly froze, his bat ears quivering. Duncan heard it, too. There were footsteps coming down the passageway outside.**  
**"Dobby must go!" breathed the elf, terrified. There was a loud crack, and Duncan's fist was suddenly clenched on thin air.**

"Wait did he apparate?" Ron asked in confusion. "But I thought you couldn't do that."

"House-elves have a very special kind of magic Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said. "One that is not often understood by wizards."

"Kaiju also have that kind of magic." Muttered Belloc smugly. He looked at Duncan and Harry and frowned in confusion. He had expected Duncan to have a smug smile, but why Harry had one too?

**He ran back to bed, his eyes on the dark doorway to the hospital wing as the footsteps drew nearer.**  
**Next moment, Dumbledore was backing into the dormitory, wearing a long woolly dressing gown and a nightcap. He was carrying one end of what looked like a statue. Professor McGonagall appeared a second later, carrying its feet. Together, they heaved it onto a bed.**

"A statue?" Remus breathed. "Someone has been attacked haven't they?"

"You'll see." Harry said shortly, squeezing Isabel's hand reassuringly.

**"Get Madam Pomfrey," whispered Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall hurried past the end of Harry's bed out of sight. Harry lay quite still, pretending to be asleep. He heard urgent voices, and then Professor McGonagall swept back into view, closely followed by Madam Pomfrey, who was pulling a cardigan on over her nightdress. He heard a sharp intake of breath.**  
**"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over the statue on the bed.**  
**"Another attack," said Dumbledore. "Minerva found him on the stairs."**  
**"There was a bunch of grapes next to him," said Professor McGonagall. "We think he was trying to sneak up here to visit Potter."**

"And only one person would sneak out to visit Harry," Kenny said while Ginny sighed. She wasn't sure how Colin was still her friend... of course, he didn't know the whole truth.

**Harry's stomach gave a horrible lurch. Slowly and carefully, he raised himself a few inches so he could look at the statue on the bed. A ray of moonlight lay across its staring face.**  
**It was Colin Creevey. His eyes were wide and his hands were stuck up in front of him, holding his camera.**  
**"Petrified?" whispered Madam Pomfrey.**  
**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "But I shudder to think... If Albus hadn't been on the way downstairs for hot chocolate - who knows what might have-"**  
**The three of them stared down at Colin. Then Dumbledore leaned forward and wrenched the camera out of Colin's rigid grip.**  
**"You don't think he managed to get a picture of his attacker?" said Professor McGonagall eagerly.**

"Knowing Colin, he probably did," George said, trying to lighten the mood. Everyone had heard about the attacks of course, but hearing it from this perspective was even scarier than it had been then.**  
**  
**Dumbledore didn't answer. He opened the back of the camera.**  
**"Good gracious!" said Madam Pomfrey.**  
**A jet of steam had hissed out of the camera. Harry, three beds away, caught the acrid smell of burnt plastic.**  
**"Melted," said Madam Pomfrey wonderingly. "All melted..."**  
**"What does this mean, Albus?" Professor McGonagall asked urgently.**  
**"It means," said Dumbledore, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."**  
**Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth. Professor McGonagall stared at Dumbledore.**  
**"But, Albus... surely... who?"**  
**"The question is not who," said Dumbledore, his eyes on Colin. "The question is, how..." And from what Harry could see of Professor McGonagall's shadowy face, she didn't understand this any better than he did.**

"How was it opened indeed?" Remus muttered.

"That's the end of the chapter," Fred said. "Here ya go Georgie," and he shoved the book into his twin's hands, eager to be rid of it. George scowled.

* * *

**Another over! Review please! And don't forget my other story!**


	14. The Duelling Club

**Hello guys! Here's another chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

"**Chapter Eleven: The Dueling Club**" George read as several students groaned.

**Harry and Duncan woke up on Sunday morning to find the dormitory blazing with winter sunlight and their arms reboned**

Hermione opened her mouth but Harry cut her off. "I know it isn't a word." He said quickly.

**but very stiff. They sat up quickly and looked over at Colin's bed, but it had been blocked from view by the high curtains Harry had changed behind yesterday. Seeing that they were awake, Madam Pomfrey came bustling over with a breakfast tray and then began bending and stretching their arms and fingers.**

Colin smiled, it seemed that the Evans cared about him…he had thought they had been annoyed with him… but seemed like the Evans were full of surprises

**"All in order," she said as Harry clumsily fed himself porridge left-handed. "When you've finished eating, you may leave."**

"She let you leave that early?" Remus asked in surprise. "She kept me once for two days after I had taken the Skele-Gro."

"What can I say, we're special." Harry said with a straight face.

"Yes but Harry," George began.

"There are schools for that now." Fred finished and they both laughed at Harry's glare.

**Harry and Duncan dressed as quickly as they could and hurried off to Gryffindor Tower, desperate to tell Ron, Nico and Hermione about Colin and Dobby, but they weren't there. The Evans left to look for them, wondering where they could have got to and feeling slightly hurt that they weren't interested in whether they had their bones back or not.**

"Of course we were interested, we just had slightly more important things to worry about," Nico said.

"Uh-huh." Harry said with a smile to let his friend know he was kidding.

**As Harry and Duncan passed the library, Percy Weasley strolled out of it, looking in far better spirits than last time they'd met.**

Percy blushed as he remembered what would have caused him to be in such high spirits. He really did miss Penelope, but like his parents, she believed all the rumors about You-Know-Who and Dumbledore being right.

**"Oh, hello, Harry, Duncan" he said. "Excellent flying yesterday, really excellent. Gryffindor has just taken the lead for the House Cup - you earned fifty points!"**  
**"You haven't seen Ron, Nico or Hermione, have you?" said Harry.**  
**"No, I haven't," said Percy, his smile fading. "I hope Ron's not in another girls' toilet ..."**

"Of course that's where he is!" Fred laughed. "Where else would he be?"

**Duncan forced a laugh, watched Percy walk out of sight, and then headed straight for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He couldn't see why Ron, Nico and Hermione would be in there again, but after making sure that neither Filch nor any prefects were around, he opened the door and heard their voices coming from a locked stall.**

"Oh voices were there Duncan?" George broke off saying.

"You sure you didn't see anything?" Fred stressed and they laughed at the beet red color that was on Ron's and Nico's face, as well as Hermione burying her head.

**"It's us," he said, closing the door behind Harry. There was a clunk, a splash, and a gasp from within the stall and he saw Hermione's eye peering through the keyhole.**

Simultaneously, Fred and George each raised their right eyebrow.

**`Harry! Duncan!" she said. "You gave us such a fright - come in. How's your arm?"**  
**"Fine," said the cousins in synchrony, squeezing into the stall. An old cauldron was perched on the toilet, and a crackling from under the rim told Harry they had lit a fire beneath it.**

"Wait, all five of you, plus a cauldron fit into one stall?" Neville asked in confusion.

"Big stalls," Ron said simply.

"Not that big," Duncan corrected. "I think I was squished a few inches."

**Conjuring up portable, waterproof fires was a speciality of Hermione's.**

There were many snickers (Belloc had his mouth behind his hand to hide his grin) and open laughter (Fred and George) as they recalled Hermione setting Snape on fire. Snape glared at Hermione who refused to meet his eyes.

**"We'd've come to meet you, but we decided to get started on the Polyjuice Potion,"**

"Hold on…hold on…" said Snape in a silkily voice. "Started on what?"

Duncan, Harry, Ron and Hermione all gulped.

"You actually did it?" asked Belloc menacingly

"READ GEORGE!" said Duncan somewhat panicked

**Ron explained as Duncan, with difficulty, locked the stall again. "We've decided this is the safest place to hide it."**

"In a girl's toilet."

"Well," Ron defended "Who would want to go and purposefully have a conversation with Moaning Myrtle?"

"Myrtle is actually quite nice," Luna said mildly.

"Luna, that's who." Neville answered Ron's question.

**Harry started to tell them about Colin, but Hermione interrupted.**

"I'm sure the heads already told their houses," Remus said.

**"We already know - we heard Professor McGonagall telling Professor Flitwick this morning. That's why we decided we'd better get going-"**

**"**Those four find out everything! Honestly!" said McGonagall

"Don't forget about me." Smirked Nico

Flitwick nodded. He thought their conversation was away from prying ears…apparently not.

**"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," snarled Nico while Ron nodded.**

"_They won't be able to make it…"_ thought Belloc and Snape. "_The potion is far too much advanced…"_

**"D'you know what I think? He was in such a foul temper after the Quidditch match, he took it out on Colin."**

"But what has that boy ever done to him?" Mrs. Weasley demanded angrily.

"I think that is partly the point Molly dear," Mr. Weasley said, trying to calm her.

**"There's something else," said Duncan, watching Hermione tearing bundles of knotgrass and throwing them into the potion. "Dobby came to visit us in the middle of the night."**

"I don't like that elf…he got you locked in your room and almost expelled of Hogwarts!" grumbled Margaret

"He didn't mean-"

"I don't care what he meant! He hurt you!"

"He did save us a couple of times." Said Duncan, thinking back of Mr. Malfoy's rage and the second task.

"You shouldn't need saving!"said Margaret, relieving the memories of when Duncan was almost killed. "You should be safe!"

"Well, I'm Duncan Belloc Rosenblatt, safety isn't something I have access to, not since September anyway."

All his friends and Harry paled, but he was dead serious about what he'd said, and didn't take it back. It was true. Perhaps that's why his friends looked as they did, because they knew that too. Duncan looked at Harry, noticing a lot more of similarities between them like even before.

Both "orphans" at least for a while, both abused, both "special", both in the middle of a War, both with people wanting them dead, both getting almost killed, both disliking their destiny, both knowing there was nothing they could do to change it, both with a huge burden on their shoulders, both halfbreeds, both loners by nature…

Both the loneliest beings of all existence, but at the same time, never truly alone.

**Ron, Nico and Hermione looked up, amazed. Harry told them everything Dobby had told them - or hadn't told them. Hermione, Nico and Ron listened with their mouths open.**  
**"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened before?" Hermione said.**

"_Yes it was_," Dumbledore thought solemnly, reflecting on previous time it had been opened,

**"This settles it," said Nico in a triumphant voice. "Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it.**

"No he didn't." Remus said at once.

"Why not?" Ron questioned.

"Because Lucius Malfoy was five years ahead of us at school." Remus said and seeing the twins smirks added, "Which wasn't fifty years ago." Fred and George just chuckled.

**It's obvious. Wish Dobby'd told you what kind of monster's in there, though. I want to know how come nobody's noticed it sneaking around the school."**

"Wouldn't we all?" Belloc muttered to himself.

**"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione, prodding leeches to the bottom of the cauldron. "Or maybe it can disguise itself - pretend to be a suit of armor or something - I've read about Chameleon Ghouls-"**

**"Nah, I don't think so. There's needed a very clear mind and is too complicated to do it multiple times-" interrupted Duncan**  
**"You read too much, guys," said Ron,**

"What? It's true!" Ron protested to the look Hermione and Duncan was giving him.

"Yes but you see Ron, you don't go saying things like to her, or any girl. Or a friend who is stronger than you" Fred explained as though talking to a child.

"Or they will hurt you." George added.

**pouring dead lacewings on top of the leeches. He crumpled up the empty lacewing bag and looked at Harry.**  
**"So Dobby stopped us from getting on the train and broke your arm." He shook his head. "You know what, guys? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life he's going to kill you.**"

"You know, I actually think you might have had a point Ron," Duncan mused with a grin. "Maybe I should talk to him about that."

**The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning. The air was suddenly thick with rumor and suspicion. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.**

"You cant really blame them for that," Professor McGonagall sighed and Harry jumped. For the past few chapters, the professor's had been so quiet he almost forgot about them.

**Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms, was distraught, but Harry and Duncan felt that Fred and George were going the wrong way about cheering her up. They were taking turns covering themselves with fur or boils and jumping out at her from behind statues.**

"Sorry about that Ginny," they apologized, truly looking sorry.

"You did what?" Mrs. Weasley yelled.

"Mum, is all right," Ginny said tiredly.

**They only stopped when Percy, apoplectic with rage, told them he was going to write to Mrs. Weasley and tell her Ginny was having nightmares.**  
**Meanwhile, hidden from the teachers, a roaring trade in talismans, amulets, and other protective devices was sweeping the school.**

"Actually, it wasn't that well hidden," Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"You knew about it and you didn't stop it?" Umbridge said sweetly. "Even when they were selling illegal items?"

"But it did give the students peace of mind. Surely that couldn't be all that bad could it Dolores?" Professor McGonagall said, her tone almost matching Umbridge's.

**Neville Longbottom bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal, and a rotting newt tail before the other Gryffindor boys pointed out that he was in no danger; he was a pure-blood, and therefore unlikely to be attacked.**  
**"They went for Filch first," Neville said, his round face fearful. "And everyone knows I'm almost a Squib."**

"No you're not Neville!" Harry said shaking his head.

"Yeah, I mean, look at how well you've done in-"

"Herbology this year." Duncan finished Nico's sentence

**In the second week of December Professor McGonagall came around as usual, collecting names of those who would be staying at school for Christmas. Harry, Duncan, Nico, Ron, and Hermione signed her list; they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck them as very suspicious. The holidays would be the perfect time to use the Polyjuice Potion and try to worm a confession out of him.**  
**Unfortunately, the potion was only half finished. They still needed the bicorn horn and the boomslang skin, and the only place they were going to get them was from Snape's private stores.**

Snape's eyes narrowed. He knew that the Evans had stolen from him, and now he would have the proof of it.

Hermione meanwhile, saw the expression on Snape's face and shrank in her seat a little. She had already set him on fire, wait until he found out that she stole from his stores as well.

**Duncan privately felt he'd rather face Slytherin's legendary monster than let Snape catch him robbing his office.**

"And before anyone asks, yes I still would." Duncan said quickly, seeing the curiosity in Fred and George's eyes. Harry nodded in agreement.

Mouths dropped.

"You know, all the things you compare things with, you accomplish later. The Slytherin monster…" she paused seeing the Muggles and the Kaiju's eyes glowing with expectation. "Poking a dragon in the eye…I know you didn't but it is close about what happened once."

More mouths dropped.

"Twice in my case." Smiled Duncan bitterly

**"What we need," said Duncan briskly as Thursday afternoon's double Potions lesson loomed nearer, "is a diversion. Then one of us can sneak into Snape's office and take what we need."**

"The strategist of the group" chuckled Harry

**Harry, Nico, and Ron looked at him nervously.**  
**"I think I'd better do the actual stealing," Hermione said**

Fred gasped and George dropped the book. "What!" They exclaimed.

"How come –,"

"After all this time –,"

"We've never seen –"

"This side of you!" They finished and Hermione blushed, but her voice was still strong.

"Because I only break the rules if it is absolutely necessary." She said. "And none of your little toys are necessary."

"T-toys?" George spluttered.

Harry rolled his eyes. "George, just pick up the book and read. You can have this fight later."

**in a matter-of-fact tone. "You two will be expelled if you get into any more trouble, and I and Nico got a clean record. Nico doesn't have Potions with us, so all you need to do is cause enough mayhem to keep Snape busy for five minutes or so."**

"Miss Granger." Snape said in a menacing tone. "I believe we shall have to have a talk after this book."

Hermione looked down and sank in her seat.

"Excuse me, is that really necessary?" Belloc cut in. "I would think that you should be proud of her abilities! Brewing the Polyjuice Potion in second year? Clearly she must have learned something in your classes, is that really something you wish to punish?"

McGonagall took in Snape's closed off, but no longer furious, expression. "And that," she whispered to Pomona Sprout, "Is how the Marauders always managed to get out of trouble. Seems like having a wife who was the sister-in-law of James Potter has its benefits"

Having heard the exchange, Belloc grinned at his wife, who grinned back.

**Duncan smiled feebly. Deliberately causing mayhem in Snape's Potions class was about as safe as poking a sleeping dragon in the eye.**

"And you know this how?" Fred asked Duncan curiously.

"Norbert." he said shortly, but sending his Dad a malicious stare. Belloc looked at him, in a "do-it-and-die" kind of way

**Potions lessons took place in one of the large dungeons. Thursday afternoon's lesson proceeded in the usual way. Twenty cauldrons stood steaming between the wooden desks, on which stood brass scales and jars of ingredients. Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively.**

"Are you certain that there is no favoritism in your classes Severus?" McGonagall said crisply, but her lips were twitching.

"No more than there is in yours Minerva," Snape replied in the same manner, without the lip twitching.

**Draco Malfoy, who was Snape's favorite student, kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Ron, Duncan and Harry, who knew that if they retaliated they would get detention faster than you could say "Unfair."**  
**Harry's Swelling Solution was far too runny, but he had his mind on more important things. He was waiting for Hermione's signal, and he hardly listened as Snape paused to sneer at his watery potion. When Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville, Hermione caught Harry's eye and nodded.**  
**Harry ducked swiftly down behind his cauldron, pulled one of Fred's Filibuster fireworks out of his pocket,**

"I wondered what happened to that," Fred said. "Glad it went to good use."

**and gave it a quick prod with his wand. The firework began to fizz and sputter. Knowing he had only seconds, Harry straightened up, took aim, and lobbed it into the air; it landed right on target in Goyle's cauldron.**

"Excellent aim Harry," George applauded but quickly continued to read under his mother's glare.

**Goyle's potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Malfoy got a faceful and his nose began to swell like a balloon; Goyle blundered around, his hands over his eyes, which had expanded to the size of a dinner plate**

"Serves them right," Ron said under his breath. "Gits."

**- Snape was trying to restore calm and find out what had happened. Through the confusion, Harry saw Hermione slip quietly into Snape's office.**  
**"Silence! SILENCE!" Snape roared. "Anyone who has been splashed, come here for a Deflating Draft - when I find out who did this-"**

"Judging by Snape's face, he never found out" Maggie chuckled

**Harry and Duncan tried not to laugh as he watched Malfoy hurry forward, his head drooping with the weight of a nose like a small melon.**

Having no such worries now, Harry laughed out loud, as did Ron, Nico, Duncan and the twins.

**As half the class lumbered up to Snape's desk, some weighted down with arms like clubs, others unable to talk through gigantic puffed-up lips, Harry saw Hermione slide back into the dungeon, the front of her robes bulging.**  
**When everyone had taken a swig of antidote and the various swellings had subsided, Snape swept over to Goyle's cauldron and scooped out the twisted black remains of the firework. There was a sudden hush.**  
**"If I ever find out who threw this," Snape whispered, "I shall make sure that person is expelled."**

Snape's narrowed eyes fell on Harry who stared calmly back. He wasn't going to let Snape scare him. Not this time at least.

**Harry arranged his face into what he hoped was a puzzled expression.**

"You really need to work on that," Duncan laughed.

"You're not much better," Harry teased back.

**Snape was looking right at him, and the bell that rang ten minutes later could not have been more welcome.**  
**"He knew it was me," Harry told Ron and Hermione as they hurried back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "I could tell."**  
**Hermione threw the new ingredients into the cauldron and began to stir feverishly.**  
**"It'll be ready in two weeks," she said happily.**  
**"Snape can't prove it was you," said Ron reassuringly to Harry. "What can he do?"**  
**"Knowing Snape, something foul," said Harry as the potion frothed and bubbled.**

**A week later, Harry, Duncan, Ron and Hermione were going to the Great Hall to meet Nico.**

**"Duncan, Harry, in class when I mentioned that Kaiju didn't exist, why did you laugh?" Hermione suddenly asked with a straight face.**

Belloc, Margaret and Isabel snickered

**Duncan snickered.**

"**Duncan! I'm being serious! Why were you laughing?"**

**"Well," Harry cut in, "We were laughing because we know for a fact that Kaiju are real. Also, we know that Kaiju aren't found in Germany, They are mainly found in North America."**

**"Really? Well why do you think that? Professor Lockhart said that they lived in Germany." Hermione replied.**

"I can't believe you actually believe that idiot." Nico shook his head  
**  
"Well, there have been numerous sightings in America, and there is also the fact that the Kaiju were at war with humans there twelve years ago." Duncan explained.**

"But why they are not known? If there was a war, it means they are intelligent creatures!" said McGonnagall

**"Amazing!" Hermione exclaimed. "What are they like?"**

**"When I was living with Mom, she said that there were both good and bad Kaiju, just like there are good people and bad people." Duncan smiled.**

"**And how does she know this?"**

**"Aunt Margaret met one once. That's all we know about that though." Harry said quickly.**

Hermione and Remus looked at Margaret

**"But what are Kaiju?" asked Ron. Duncan smiled**

**"Monsters. Giant monsters that had this war with humans. There are cold-blooded and hot-blooded, there are firebreathers and shapeshifters, there are two-legged and four-legged, they are ruled by a King, who was the one who made them stop the war." He explained**

**"He made them stop? I thought the humans won" said Ron confused.**

"If the Kaiju had not retreated, I think they could have easily win the war." Duncan muttered thoughtfully. Harry silently agreed

**Duncan shook his head and laughed softly.**

"You really are creepy when you laugh like that" said Dean, shuddering when Duncan repeated his past actions

**"Some people say that the King made the others retreat because there happened someone no one had expected. In this case, they say that the Kaiju walked across a human female and…"**

**"And he killed her." Ron finished tactlessly**

Belloc, Margaret and Duncan's all eyes widened and glared at Ron

"And here it goes the tact again!" said Hermione cheerfully

**"No." Duncan smiled. "It happened something no one had expected: They fell in love.**

**"**They WHAT?!" was heard across the Hall. Some of the women cooed

**The King made his subjects retreat as he knew that the woman wanted so. They say he took her to his lair, and she became his mate. They say…" Duncan finished mysteriously**

"The woman would be beasty much?" sniggered Zabini. Duncan wanted sorely burn that guy to ashes…_God, I am turning into my father_, thought Duncan slightly shocked

**"Awwww…how romantic!" cooed Hermione. Duncan and Harry chuckled**

**"What a legend" snorted Ron, not believing it. "I mean, her being his mate? That's physically impossible!"**

Among the Hall were disgusted faces and some looked downright sick. Belloc and Margaret were trying their hardest not to laugh

"_Well…this explains many things…"_ Duncan trailed off staring at his father

"_True._" Harry mumbled

**Duncan gagged.**

**"Thanks, Ron, for that unwanted mental image"**

"Yeah, THANKS RON!" the Hall yelled sarcastically

**Ron and Hermione walked over Nico, while Harry stopped Duncan.**

**"Is the first time you tell them something like that." He said. "You really change when you are here."**

**"Who knows? Maybe I'll change when I leave here" Duncan answered. _And this is the true me._ He thought.**

Duncan and Harry smiled at each other

**Then they ran to meet Nico.**

**Harry, Nico, Duncan, Ron, and Hermione were walking across the entrance hall when they saw a small knot of people gathered around the notice board, reading a piece of parchment that had just been pinned up. Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas beckoned them over, looking excited.**  
**"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days..."**

"Too right they will." Harry said glaring at the Ministry members. "Heaven forbid we actually learn how to defend ourselves."

**"What, you reckon Slytherin's monster can duel?" said Ron,**

"Not anymore," Duncan and Harry said grimly and Margaret looked over at them. She already had the feeling that Harry or Duncan would meet the monster, but she was valiantly hoping she was wrong.

**but he, too, read the sign with interest.**  
**"Could be useful," Nico said to Harry, Duncan and Hermione as they went into dinner. "Shall we go?"**  
**Harry, Duncan and Hermione were all for it, so at eight o'clock that evening they hurried back to the Great Hall. The long dining tables had vanished and a golden stage had appeared along one wall, lit by thousands of candles floating overhead. The ceiling was velvety black once more and most of the school seemed to be packed beneath it, all carrying their wands and looking excited.**  
**"I wonder who'll be teaching us?" said Hermione as they edged into the chattering crowd. "Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young - maybe it'll be him."**

"Unfortunately not," Flitwick squeaked from the table.

**"As long as it's not -" Harry began, but he ended on a groan:**

"Let me guess. Lockhart?" Isabel sighed, knowing that anywhere he was, it wouldn't end well for Harry. Or Duncan, thought Maggie

**Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black.**

**"**You had to be taught by that git?" Belloc groaned

"Who are you talking about?" Ron asked. "Lockhart or Snape?"

Those who heard sniggered

**Lockhart waved an arm for silence and called "Gather round, gather round! Can everyone see me? Can you all hear me?**

"Unfortunately," Harry said with a frown and Ron, Duncan, Neville and the twins sniggered.

**Excellent!**  
**"Now, Professor Dumbledore has granted me permission to start this little dueling club, to train you all in case you ever need to defend yourselves as I myself have done on countless occasions - for full details, see my published works.**  
**"Let me introduce my assistant, Professor Snape,"**

"Assistant." Someone giggled, making Snape look furious

**said Lockhart, flashing a wide smile. "He tells me he knows a tiny little bit about dueling himself and has sportingly agreed to help me with a short demonstration before we begin. Now, I don't want any of you youngsters to worry - you'll still have your Potions master when I'm through with him, never fear!"**

"It's not him I'd be worried about." Remus said grimly. He knew that Snape was an excellent dueler and could easily overpower Lockhart. Well, most people could easily overpower Lockhart, but still.

**"Wouldn't it be good if they finished each other off?" Ron muttered in Harry's ear.**

Those who hated Snape and Lockhart got dreamy expressions imagining the situation

**Having heard this, Duncan nodded enthusiastically.**  
**Snape's upper lip was curling. Harry wondered why Lockhart was still smiling; if Snape had been looking at him like that he'd have been running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.**

"Good to know." Snape said under his breath.

**Lockhart and Snape turned to face each other and bowed; at least, Lockhart did, with much twirling of his hands, whereas Snape jerked his head irritably. Then they raised their wands like swords in front of them.**  
**"As you see, we are holding our wands in the accepted combative position," Lockhart told the silent crowd. "On the count of three, we will cast our first spells. Neither of us will be aiming to kill, of course."**  
**"I wouldn't bet on that," Duncan murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth.**  
**"One - two - three-"**  
**Both of them swung their wands above their heads and pointed them at their opponent; Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!"**

The Evans smiled, they loved that spell

**There was a dazzling flash of scarlet light and Lockhart was blasted off his feet: He flew backward off the stage, smashed into the wall, and slid down it to sprawl on the floor.**

"Excellent!" The twins cried and Remus laughed.

"He couldn't have even stopped a disarming spell?"

"A disarming spell? That's really useful!" said Belloc impressed.

"It definitely is" Duncan and Harry grinned, somewhat bitterly

**Malfoy and some of the other Slytherins cheered. Hermione was dancing on tiptoes. "Do you think he's all right?" she squealed through her fingers.**

"Who cares?" Fred and George said together.

**"Who cares?" said Harry and Duncan together.**

"Hey we think like Duncan and Harry!" They continued.

"I'm Harry!" George said.

"But I don't want to be a scrawny git!" Fred complained like a small child.

"Oh shut up!" Duncan said rolling his eyes good naturedly.

**Lockhart was getting unsteadily to his feet. His hat had fallen off and his wavy hair was standing on end.**  
**"Well, there you have it!" he said, tottering back onto the platform. "That was a Disarming Charm - as you see, I've lost my wand - ah, thank you, Miss Brown - yes, an excellent idea to show them that, Professor Snape, but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy - however, I felt it would be instructive to let them see..."**

"Of course you did," Remus said rolling his eyes.

**Snape was looking murderous. Possibly Lockhart had noticed, because he said, "Enough demonstrating! I'm going to come amongst you now and put you all into pairs. Professor Snape, if you'd like to help me-"**  
**They moved through the crowd, matching up partners. Lockhart teamed Neville with Justin Finch-Fletchley, but Snape reached Harry and Duncan first.**  
**"Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered. "Rosenblatt, you can partner Zabini. Weasley, you can partner Finnigan.**

"Er Ron?" Ginny said. "Isn't your wand broken?"

Ron grumbled something along the lines of, "Didn't think about it then."

**Potter-"**  
**Harry moved automatically toward Hermione.**  
**"I don't think so," said Snape, smiling coldly. "Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger - you can partner Miss Bulstrode."**  
**Malfoy strutted over, smirking. Behind him walked a Slytherin girl who reminded Harry of a picture he'd seen in Holidays with Hags. She was large and square and her heavy jaw jutted aggressively. Hermione gave her a weak smile that she did not return. Then there was a tall, muscular, dark-skinned boy, who glared at Duncan and he glared back**  
**"Face your partners!" called Lockhart, back on the platform. "And bow!"**  
**Harry and Malfoy barely inclined their heads, not taking their eyes off each other.**

"This won't end well," Remus said wisely. "For either of you."

**"Wands at the ready!" shouted Lockhart. "When I count to three, cast your charms to disarm your opponents - only to disarm them - we don't want any accidents - one ... two ... three-"**  
**Harry swung his wand high, but Malfoy had already started on "two"**

"That cheating…" started Ginny, but stopped seeing her mother's expression. "Cheater. That cheating cheater."

**: His spell hit Harry so hard he felt as though he'd been hit over the head with a saucepan.**

**"**_Of course he would know that…"_ fumed Margaret. She would have a long talk with her sister…

**He stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, "Rictusempra!"**

"And there went 'Disarm only'." Remus sighed.

**A jet of silver light hit Malfoy in the stomach and he doubled up, wheezing.**  
**"I said disarm only!" Lockhart shouted**

"What do you know Remus?" Harry said teasingly, "You sound like Lockhart!"

Remus groaned. "Great. Just what I needed."

**in alarm over the heads of the battling crowd, as Malfoy sank to his knees; Harry had hit him with a Tickling Charm, and he could barely move for laughing. Harry hung back, with a vague feeling it would be unsporting to bewitch Malfoy while he was on the floor,**

"You see? You are too noble for your own good!" Hermione said but Harry shrugged.

**but this was a mistake; gasping for breath, Malfoy pointed his wand at Harry's knees, choked, " Tarantallegra!" and the next second Harry's legs began to jerk around out of his control in a kind of quickstep.**  
**"Stop! Stop!" screamed Lockhart, but Snape took charge. "Finite Incantatem!" he shouted; Harry's feet stopped dancing, Malfoy stopped laughing, and they were able to look up.**  
**A haze of greenish smoke was hovering over the scene. Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done;**

"I wasn't even sure what it had done," Ron grimaced.

**but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving, as well as Blasie and Duncan; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry leapt forward and pulled Millicent off. It was difficult: She was a lot bigger than he was. Then he lunged at Zabini, who was grabbing Duncan by the neck. The blonde boy was making choking sounds as he tried to get off him.**

"He was choking you?" asked a deadly calm Margaret. Duncan just stared

At the Slytherin table, Blasie Zabini had a suspicion that he should not mess with Rosenblatt's family.

**"Dear, dear," said Lockhart, skittering through the crowd, looking at the aftermath of the duels. "Up you go, Zabini..."**  
**"Careful there, Miss Fawcett... Pinch it hard, it'll stop bleeding in a second,"**  
**"I think I'd better teach you how to block unfriendly spells," said Lockhart,**

"You think?" Harry said sarcastically.

**standing flustered in the midst of the hall. He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away. "Let's have a volunteer pair - Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley, how about you-"**  
**"A bad idea, Professor Lockhart," said Snape, gliding over like a large and malevolent bat. "Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of Finch-Fletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox."**

"Severus!" McGonagall scolded. "You are supposed to treat students with respect!"

**Neville's round, pink face went pinker. "How about Malfoy and Potter?" said Snape with a twisted smile.**  
**"Excellent idea!" said Lockhart, gesturing Harry and Malfoy into the middle of the hall as the crowd backed away to give them room.**  
**"Now, Harry," said Lockhart. "When Draco points his wand at you, you do this."**  
**He raised his own wand, attempted a complicated sort of wiggling action, and dropped it. Snape smirked as Lockhart quickly picked it up, saying, "Whoops - my wand is a little overexcited-"**

"Why not just teach them Protego?" Remus asked. "It would be easier and more effective."

"This is Lockhart we're talking about," Harry reminded him.

"True."

**Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too. Harry looked up nervously at Lockhart and said, "Professor, could you show me that blocking thing again?"**  
**"Scared?" muttered Malfoy, so that Lockhart couldn't hear him.**  
**"You wish," said Harry out of the corner of his mouth.**  
**Lockhart cuffed Harry merrily on the shoulder. "Just do what I did, Harry!"**

"What, drop his wand?" Isabel said sarcastically.

**"What, drop my wand?"**

"They think alike!" Fred and George cried.

**But Lockhart wasn't listening.**  
**"Three - two - one - go!" he shouted.**  
**Malfoy raised his wand quickly and bellowed, "Serpensortia!"**  
**The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it, fell heavily onto the floor between them, and raised itself, ready to strike. There were screams as the crowd backed swiftly away, clearing the floor.**  
**"Don't move, Potter," said Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it..."**  
**"Allow me!" shouted Lockhart.**

"No, don't allow him!" Ron said shaking his head.

**He brandished his wand at the snake and there was a loud bang; the snake, instead of vanishing, flew ten feet into the air and fell back to the floor with a loud smack.**

**"**_Idiot…_" was going through the heads of many students

**Enraged, hissing furiously, it slithered straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley and raised itself again, fangs exposed, poised to strike.**  
**Harry wasn't sure what made him do it. He wasn't even aware of deciding to do it. All he knew was that his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on casters and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, "Leave him alone!" He also heard Duncan screaming "Don't touch anybody!"**

**"**You were really trying to help me." Said Justin in shock. Duncan and Harry just answered with "I told you so."

**And miraculously - inexplicably - the snake slumped to the floor, docile as a thick, black garden hose, its eyes now on Harry and glancing at Duncan. Harry felt the fear drain out of him and Duncan smiled. They knew the snake wouldn't attack anyone now, though how they knew it, they couldn't have explained.**

Sirius and Remus looked at each other. They knew about the Evans being Parselmouths, but they didn't understand it. How could they, the most non-dark wizards ever, have a dark ability?

"_Maybe Belloc's a Parselmouth…_"thought Remus, but no, that seemed impossible. And it didn't explain Harry's ability. But then he remembered when Harry and Duncan had been chosen the fourth and fifth Hogwarts champions, Duncan's name had been burned on the paper, like when Harry's name was chosen there was no way Duncan's name couldn't be in too. Like, where one of them goes, the other has to follow.

**` They looked up at Justin, grinning, expecting to see Justin looking relieved, or puzzled, or even grateful - but certainly not angry and scared.**  
**"What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall.**  
**Snape stepped forward, waved his wand, and the snake vanished in a small puff of black smoke. Snape, too, was looking at Harry and Duncan in an unexpected way: It was a shrewd and calculating look, and Duncan didn't like it. He was also dimly aware of an ominous muttering all around the walls.**

"You should get out of there quickly," Luna said.

**Then he felt a tugging on the back of his robes.**  
**"Come on," said Ron's voice in his ear. "Move - come on-"**  
**Ron steered him out of the hall, Hermione and Nico hurrying alongside them. As they went through the doors, the people on either side drew away as though they were frightened of catching something. Harry and Duncan didn't have a clue what was going on, and neither Ron nor Hermione explained anything until they had dragged them all the way up to the grounds.**

"They were ganging up on you eh guys?" Neville said.

"Not the first, and definitely not the last time either," Harry replied.

**Then Ron pushed Harry to make him sit, and Nico did the same to Duncan, and said, "You're a Parselmouth. Why didn't you tell us?"**

"Because I didn't think it was important," Harry answered.

**"I'm a what?" said the Evans.**  
**"A Parselmouth!" said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!"**  
**"We know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time we've ever done it. We accidentally set a boa constrictor on my cousin Dudley at the zoo once - long story - but it was telling us it had never seen Brazil and we sort of set it free without meaning to, that was before we knew we were wizards-"**

"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way of telling the story," Harry admitted.

"You think?" Ron replied with an eye roll.

**"A boa constrictor told you it had never seen Brazil?" Ron repeated faintly.**  
**"So?" said Harry. "I bet loads of people here can do it."**  
**"Oh, no they can't," said Nico. "It's not a very common gift. Harry, this is bad."**  
**"What's bad?" said Harry, starting to feel quite angry. "What's wrong with everyone? Listen, if I and Duncan hadn't told that snake not to attack Justin-"**  
**"Oh, that's what you said to it?"**

"Yes, well sort of." Harry replied.

**"What d'you mean? You were there - you heard me-"**  
**"I heard you speaking Parseltongue," said Ron. "Snake language. You could have been saying anything - no wonder Justin panicked, you sounded like you were egging the snake on or something - it was creepy, you know-"**

"That wasn't exactly reassuring you know mate," Harry told Ron.

"Sorry," he answered sheepishly. "But well, I was kind of in shock."

**Harry and Duncan gaped at him.**  
**"I spoke a different language? But - I didn't realize - how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"**  
**Ron shook his head. Both he, Nico and Hermione were looking as though someone had died. Harry and Duncan couldn't see what was so terrible.**  
**"D'you want to tell me what's wrong with stopping a massive snake biting off Justin's head?" Duncan said. "What does it matter how I did it as long as Justin doesn't have to join the Headless Hunt?"**

"Because now people will believe that you are descended from Slytherin because he was the most famous Parselmouth to date." Remus said.

**"It matters," said Hermione, speaking at last in a hushed voice, "because being able to talk to snakes was what Salazar Slytherin was famous for. That's why the symbol of Slytherin House is a serpent."**  
**Harry's and Duncan's mouth fell open.**  
**"Exactly," said Ron. "And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-great-great-grandsons or something-"**  
**"But we're not," said Harry, with a panic he couldn't quite explain.**

"No you're not. You're probably more closely related to either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw if memory serves me right," Remus said thoughtfully.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked, stunned.

"Your father was quite proud to boast that in an attempt to get Lily's attention. We thought he was making it up until his father told us it was true."

**"You'll find that hard to prove," said Hermione. "He lived about a thousand years ago; for all we know, you could be."**  
**Harry and Duncan went into the forest for hours that night. When started snowing they had to go back. As they sneaked quietly into the common room, they slumped into armchairs and wondered...**  
**Could they be a descendant of Salazar Slithering? Harry didn't know anything about his father's family, after all. The Dursleys had always forbidden questions about his wizarding relatives. But what could explain both Duncan and he?**

**"You can't be. We can't be. We are cousins by mother, and they're Muggle-born. People in here will believe anything." Duncan told him. It took Harry a second to realize Duncan had hissed.**

"You were speaking in Parseltounge?" asked Isabel. Duncan just hissed in response, which was traduced by Harry as a "Yes."

******"But I'm in Gryffindor" Harry hissed. "The Sorting Hat wouldn't have put me in here if I had Slytherin blood..."**  
**Ah, said a nasty little voice in his brain, but the Sorting Hat wanted to put you and Duncan in Slytherin, don't you remember?**  
**Harry and Duncan went to bed with a plan in mind. They'd see Justin the next day in Herbology and they'd explain that they'd been calling the snake off, not egging it on, which (he thought angrily, as he heard Duncan pummeling his pillow) any fool should have realized.**  
**By next morning, however, the snow that had begun in the night had turned into a blizzard so thick that the last Herbology lesson of the term was canceled: Professor Sprout wanted to fit socks and scarves on the Mandrakes, a tricky operation she would entrust to no one else, now that it was so important for the Mandrakes to grow quickly and revive Mrs. Norris and Colin Creevey.**  
**Harry and Duncan fretted about this next to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, while Ron and Hermione used their time off to play a game of wizard chess.**

"Who won?" Neville asked.

"Ron of course," Harry said automatically. "Sorry Hermione, but you know we'll never beat him."

**"For heaven's sake, guys," said Hermione, exasperated, as one of Ron's bishops wrestled her knight off his horse and dragged him off the board. "Go and find Justin if it's so important to you."**  
**So Harry and Duncan got up and left through the portrait hole, wondering where Justin might be.**  
**The castle was darker than it usually was in daytime because of the thick, swirling gray snow at every window. Shivering, Harry and Duncan walked past classrooms where lessons were taking place, catching snatches of what was happening within. Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger.**

George glared at Fred, and Kenny and those who saw it started laughing

**Resisting the urge to take a look, Harry and Duncan walked on by, thinking that Justin might be using his free time to catch up on some work, and deciding to check the library first.**  
**A group of the Hufliepuffs who should have been in Herbology were indeed sitting at the back of the library, but they didn't seem to be working. Between the long lines of high bookshelves, the Evans could see that their heads were close together and they were having what looked like an absorbing conversation. They couldn't see whether Justin was among them. They were walking toward them when something of what they were saying met their ears, and they paused to listen, hidden in the Invisibility section.**

"Oh the irony," Kenny snorted.

**"So anyway," a stout boy was saying, "I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if the Evans's marked him down as their next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while. Of course, Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to them he was Muggle-born. Justin actually told them he'd been down for Eton. That's not the kind of thing you bandy about with Slytherin's heirs on the loose, is it?"**

"Well it didn't take long for the news to spread," Luna said brightly and many people were silently questioning what went on in that girl's mind.

**"You definitely think it is the Evans, then, Ernie?" said a girl with blonde pigtails anxiously.**  
**"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly, "they're Parselmouths. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard. Have you ever heard of a decent one who could talk to snakes?**

"Yes." Ron said confidently. "And their names are Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt."

**They called Slytherin himself Serpent-tongue."**  
**There was some heavy murmuring at this, and Ernie went on, "Remember what was written on the wall? Enemies of the Heir, Beware. Potter and Rosenblatt had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Flich's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying them at the Quidditch match, taking pictures of them while they were lying in the mud. Next thing we know - Creevey's been attacked."**

"Okay, I can see his reasoning about Mrs. Norris, but Colin?" Fred complained.

**"Duncan always seems so nice, though," said Hannah uncertainly, "and, well, Harry's the one who made You-Know-Who disappear. They can't be all bad, can they?"**  
**Ernie lowered his voice mysteriously, the Hufflepuffs bent closer, and Harry and Duncan edged nearer so that they could catch Ernie's words.**  
**"No one knows how he survived that attack by You-Know-Who. I mean to say, he was only a baby when it happened. He should have been blasted into smithereens. Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." **

"He was just a baby! He couldn't be dark!" growled Isabel angrily, making Harry grimace as she gripped his hand painfully

**He dropped his voice until it was barely more than a whisper, and said, "That's probably why You- Know-Who wanted to kill him in the first place. Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding?"**

"You know, its good to see that Ernie's paranoia is still working," Nico said rolling his eyes.

"What I don't get is why no one is looking at the Slytherins," Neville wondered. "I mean, if the Chamber was Slytherins, then shouldn't it be a Slytherin that would open it?"

"Honestly Neville, if half the people back then were as smart as you, the year would have been a lot easier," Duncan sighed.

**Duncan couldn't take anymore. Clearing his throat loudly, he stepped out from behind the bookshelves, dragging Harry with him. If they hadn't been feeling so angry, they would have found the sight that greeted them funny: Every one of the Hufflepuffs looked as though they had been Petrified by the sight of them, and the color was draining out of Ernie's face.**

"You know, even looking back on it, it wasn't that funny."

**"Hello," said Duncan. "We're looking for Justin Finch-Fletchley."**

"Really Duncan, you just heard them say that they think you're going after Justin next, then you ask for him?" Hermione said in exasperation.

**The Hufflepuffs' worst fears had clearly been confirmed. They all looked fearfully at Ernie.**  
**"What do you want with him?" said Ernie in a quavering voice.**  
**"We wanted to tell him what really happened with that snake at the Dueling Club," said Harry.**  
**Ernie bit his white lips and then, taking a deep breath, said, "We were all there. We saw what happened."**  
**"Then you noticed that after I spoke to it, the snake backed off?" said Harry.**  
**"All I saw," said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling as he spoke, "was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake toward Justin."**

**"Hey, all I saw was a big badass snake almost biting Justin off. I told it to stop, and not to try to bite anyone." Grumbled Duncan, the lights of the library blinking**  
**"I didn't chase it at him!" Harry said, his voice shaking with anger. "It didn't even touch him!"**  
**"It was a very near miss," said Ernie. "And in case you're getting ideas," he added hastily, "I might tell you that you can trace my family back through nine generations of witches and warlocks and my blood's as pure as anyone's, so-"**  
**"- I don't care what sort of blood you've got!" said Harry fiercely. "Why would I want to attack Muggle-borns?"**

"Especially since my best friend is a Muggle-born!" Harry said.

"Hey I thought I was your best friend!"

**"I've heard you hate those Muggles you live with," said Ernie swiftly.**

"Who doesn't?" Remus growled softly

**"It's not possible to live with the Dursleys and not hate them," said Harry. "I'd like to see you try it."**

**"My mom's a Muggle. Even you would think for a while and find it utterly ridiculous, you stupid human." He growled venomously.**

Remus' mind was working at full sprint. Duncan had made the word "human" sound like an insult, almost like he was more than them, almost like he wasn't human…

**They turned on their heels and stormed out of the library, earning a reproving glare from Madam Pince, who was polishing the gilded cover of a large spellbook.**  
**Harry and Duncan blundered up the corridor, barely noticing where they were going, they were in such a fury. The result was that they walked into something very large and solid, which knocked them backward onto the floor.**  
**"Oh, hello, Hagrid," Harry said, looking up.**  
**Hagrid's face was entirely hidden by a woolly, snow-covered balaclava, but it couldn't possibly be anyone else, as he filled most of the corridor in his moleskin overcoat. A dead rooster was hanging from one of his massive, gloved hands.**

"Poor rooster," Luna sighed dreamily.

**"All righ', Harry, Duncan?" he said, pulling up the balaclava so he could speak. "Why aren't yeh in class?"**  
**"Canceled," said Duncan, getting up. "What're you doing in here?"**  
**Hagrid held up the limp rooster.**  
**"Second one killed this term," he explained. "It's either foxes or a Blood-Suckin Bugbear,**

"It wasn't any of those" muttered Duncan darkly. The strange thing was, once he started having nightmares, all of those dangers he faced when he was younger made their apparition as well, making Duncan remember it quite clearly. He shuddered. Was that much to ask, a night of peaceful sleep?

Belloc was still desperately trying to find out was monster was at the Chamber. He added "dead roosters" to the suspicious things. All he had was "Alive for thousands of years", "Petrify", and "Dead roosters". It wasn't much to go on.

**an' I need the Headmaster's permission ter put a charm around the hen coop."**  
**He peered more closely at the cousins from under his thick, snow flecked eyebrows.**  
**"Yeh sure yeh're all righ'? Yeh look all hot an'bothered-"**

"I don't think they'll tell you Hagrid," Hermione said, shaking her head slowly.

**Harry couldn't bring himself to repeat what Ernie and the rest of the Hufflepuffs had been saying about him.**  
**"It's nothing," he said. **

**"Just some jerks who would believe anything with the smallest bit of proof." Fumed Duncan. "Well Hagrid, we'll better be going, we have Transfiguration now."**

"You know Harry, it wouldn't kill you to talk about what's on your mind once in a while," Hermione said rolling her eyes. "And you, Duncan, well I'm impressed that you did told Hagrid."

**They walked off, their mind still full of what Ernie had said about him. "Justin's been waiting for something like this to happen ever since he let slip to them he was Muggle-born..."**  
**Harry and Duncan stamped up the stairs and turned along another corridor, which was particularly dark; the torches had been extinguished by a strong, icy draft that was blowing through a loose windowpane. However, when Duncan passed besides them, the torches would suddenly shine with a big flame**

"Is anyone else getting a bad feeling about this corridor?" Neville asked.

**Duncan suddenly grabbed Harry's arm giving a huge gasp, his eyes wide, focusing on one thing on the floor.**  
**Harry squint at what his cousin was staring and felt as though his stomach had dissolved.**  
**Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling.**

Maggie groaned.

"You have the WORST luck of ANYONE I have EVER met in my ENTIRE life" she said slowly. "Absolutely THE worst…" she trailed off, staring at Duncan, feeling her moon growing. Duncan shook his head a bit and looked away.

He didn't answer because he didn't fully agree. He was lucky to be alive. He didn't say that out loud, though.

**And that wasn't all. Next to him was another figure, the strangest sight Duncan and Harry had ever seen.**

"Wow it must have been really strange for the Evans to think it was strange." Fred commented eagerly. "What was it?"

"If you would let me read," George said, shoving his twin lightly. "I think we might find out.

**It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin's.**

"What could harm a ghost though?" Belloc asked in surprise, adding "Spiders" and "Petrified ghost".

**Harry and Duncan backtracked, their breathing fast and shallow, his heart doing a kind of drumroll against his ribs. They looked wildly up and down the deserted corridor and saw a line of spiders scuttling as fast as they could away from the bodies. The only sounds were the muffled voices of teachers from the classes on either side.**

**They could run, and no one would ever know they had been there. But they couldn't just leave them lying here... They had to get help... Would anyone believe they hadn't had anything to do with this?**

**Duncan sniffed the air. Harry's felt Duncan grabbing his arm almost painfully.**

"_What…?"_ thought Belloc. Which scent could be that made Duncan react like that?

**He turned to look at him. He was breathing quickly now, he let out a frightened growl, his eyes looked at his cousin. They were green, wide with fear.**

"_Duncan seems to change his eye color a lot. And he is not a Metamorphomagus. It happens when he is feeling a strong emotion, or when something strange happens…what does that means?"_ Hermione wondered

**"Harry" he whispered urgently. "We have to get the hell out of here, NOW!" he panicked.**

**"What?" asked Harry, trying to stop him for dragging him backwards.**

**"Something has been here. Something bad. We have to leave. Don't you sense it? Smells of bloodlust…and malevolence…" Duncan trailed off, his eyes moving around the corridor quickly.**

"_Those aren't even real smells!"_ realized Hermione

Remus was almost sure that only werewolves had that sense of smell. But Duncan definitely wasn't a werewolf, so what was going on?

**As they stood there, panicking, a door right next to him opened with a bang. Peeves the Poltergeist came shooting out.**

"Not if Peeves is there they wont." George sighed.

**"Why, it's potty wee Potter and Rosie!" cackled Peeves, knocking Harry's glasses askew as he bounced past him. "What's Potter and Rosie up to? Why's Potter and Rosie lurking-"**  
**Peeves stopped, halfway through a midair somersault. Upside down, he spotted Justin and Nearly Headless Nick. He flipped the right way up, filled his lungs and, before Harry and Duncan could stop him, screamed, "ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"**

"It's nice to know that he cares so much about warning us," Luna said softly.

**Crash - crash - crash - door after door flew open along the corridor and people flooded out. For several long minutes, there was a scene of such confusion that Justin was in danger of being squashed and people kept standing in Nearly Headless Nick.**

George frowned and looked up at Harry. "Do you have any idea how weird of a sentence that was?"

"Hey! For the twentieth time, I. Can. Not. Control. My. Thoughts." Harry said slowly and carefully.

**Harry and Duncan found themselves pinned against the wall as the teachers shouted for quiet. Professor McGonagall came running, followed by her own class, one of whom still had black-and-white-striped hair.**

Fred and George laughed again.

**She used her wand to set off a loud bang, which restored silence, and ordered everyone back into their classes. No sooner had the scene cleared somewhat than Ernie the Hufflepuff arrived, panting, on the scene.**  
**"Caught in the act!" Ernie yelled, his face stark white, pointing his finger dramatically at Harry and Duncan.**

"He really is dramatic isn't he?" Neville mused, thinking about the D.A meetings.

**"That will do, Macmillan!" said Professor McGonagall sharply.**  
**Peeves was bobbing overhead, now grinning wickedly, surveying the scene; Peeves always loved chaos. As the teachers bent over Justin and Nearly Headless Nick, examining them, Peeves broke into song:**  
**"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh Rosie, you noisy, what have you done, You're killing off' students, you think it's good fun-"**

Fred began to whistle the tune and Duncan, after closing his eyes for a moment, opened them again and smiled. Kenny was now trying to extinguish the fire that had burst from Fred's sleeve

**"That's enough Peeves!" barked Professor McGonagall, and Peeves zoomed away backward, with his tongue out at Harry and Duncan.**  
**Justin was carried up to the hospital wing by Professor Flitwick and Professor Sinistra of the Astronomy department, but nobody seemed to know what to do for Nearly Headless Nick. In the end, Professor McGonagall conjured a large fan out of thin air, which she gave to Ernie with instructions to waft Nearly Headless Nick up the stairs.**

"You know, if he hadn't said those things about you mate, I'd almost have felt sorry for him," Ron said.

**This Ernie did, fanning Nick along like a silent black hovercraft. This left Harry and Professor McGonagall alone together.**  
**"This way, Evans," she said.**  
**"Professor," said Harry at once, "I swear we didn't-"**

"I didn't think you did," McGonagall said.

"Thanks Professor, good to know someone believed me," Harry said quietly.

**"This is out of my hands, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly.**  
**They marched in silence around a corner and she stopped before a large and extremely ugly stone gargoyle.**  
**"Lemon drop!" she said. This was evidently a password, because the gargoyle sprang suddenly to life and hopped aside as the wall behind him split in two. Even full of dread for what was coming, Harry and Duncan couldn't fail to be amazed. Behind the wall was a spiral staircase that was moving smoothly upward, like an escalator. As them and Professor McGonagall stepped onto it, Harry heard the wall thud closed behind them. They rose upward in circles, higher and higher, until at last, slightly dizzy, Harry saw a gleaming oak door ahead, with a brass knocker in the shape of a griffin.**  
**He knew now where they were being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived.**

"You think?" George said sarcastically as he closed the book.

"Well look at it this way, we made it to Dumbledore's office before either of you did," Duncan said with a smug smile.

"Er- Duncan? I really don't think that's something to brag about," Hermione pointed out.

"Oh come on 'Mione, we've got to beat them at something!" Harry protested with a smirk.

* * *

**Another over! Review please! And don't forget my other story!**


	15. The Polyjuice Potion

**Hello guys! Here's another chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

"**Chapter Twelve: The Polyjuice Potion**" Ginny read, relaxing slightly at the unthreatening title. Well, unthreatening to her, Hermione was pale with horror.

**They stepped off the stone staircase at the top, and Professor McGonagall rapped on the door. It opened silently and they entered. Professor McGonagall told them to wait and left them there, alone.**

"And you'll become crazy with nerves" Isabel guessed

**Harry looked around. One thing was certain: of all the teachers' offices Harry had visited so far this year, Dumbledore's was by far the most interesting.**

"It usually is," Remus said with a smile, remembering all the times he had been in that office.

**If he hadn't been scared out of his wits that he and Duncan were about to be thrown out of school,**

"You weren't going to be thrown out guys!" Hermione said.

"Well how was I supposed to know?" Harry shot back.

"He does have a point Hermione, I mean, he did crash a flying car into a fighting tree." Jenna said reasonably.

**he would have been very pleased to have a chance to look around it.**  
**It was a large and beautiful circular room, full of funny little noises. A number of curious silver instruments stood on spindle legged tables, whirring and emitting little puffs of smoke. The walls were covered with portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses, all of whom were snoozing gently in their frames. There was also an enormous, claw-footed desk, and, sitting on a shelf behind it, a shabby, tattered wizard's hat - the Sorting Hat.**

"No." McGonagall said, seeing the twins exchange glances

**Duncan saw Harry hesitate, the same doubt in his mind. He cast a wary eye around the sleeping witches and wizards on the walls. Surely it couldn't hurt if they took the hat down and tried it on again? Just to see... just to make sure it had put them in the right House.**

"Of course it did!" The Evans' friend said

"Can you imagine Harry and Duncan in yellow and black?" Fred asked with a shiver.

"Or blue and bronze?" George added.

"Or worse yet – green and silver!" They said at the same time.

"The Hat would be drunk if it had put you into Ravenclaw!" laughed Hermione

"Hey, I can be intelligent when I want to be!" Duncan retorted right back

"So you _choose_ to be an idiot?" Ron taunted. Duncan scowled deeply.

**Harry walked quietly around the desk, lifted the hat from its shelf, and lowered it slowly onto his head. It was much too large and slipped down over his eyes, just as it had done the last time he'd put it on. Harry stared at the black inside of the hat, waiting. Then a small voice said in his ear, "Bee in your bonnet, Harry Potter?"**

"Of course it would make a hat reference," Ron said rolling his eyes.

"Well what did you expect Ronald? It is a hat after all." Hermione told him.

**"Er, yes," Harry muttered. "Er - sorry to bother you - I wanted to ask-"**  
**"You've been wondering whether I put you in the right House," said the hat smartly. "Yes... you were particularly difficult to place. But I stand by what I said before -" Harry's heart leapt - "you would have done well in Slytherin-"**

"That doesn't mean that's where you belong though Harry," Margaret said gently. "You could have done well in any of the houses, but you belong in Gryffindor."

"Thanks," Harry said with a small smile. Yes he knew that they all said it wouldn't have mattered that he was almost in Slytherin, but it was still nice to hear.

**Harry's stomach plummeted. He grabbed the point of the hat and pulled it off. It hung limply in his hand, grubby and faded. Harry pushed it back onto its shelf, feeling sick.**  
**"You're wrong," he said aloud to the still and silent hat. It didn't move. Duncan took it and put it on.**

Cue eye rolls from Isabel and Kenny

** Duncan stared at the darkness, waiting.**

**"Same problem as your cousin, Duncan Rosenblatt?" the Hat asked**

**"Aha." Duncan nodded.**

**"You were a difficult one. I will say the same I did to your cousin, you would have done well in Slytherin…" Duncan's throat shrank.**

"I think it wouldn't have changed anything" muttered Duncan

"It would have changed you" said Margaret. Duncan felt a feeling of déjà vu

**"You and your cousin are really a case… I had never seen two minds more similar…" the Hat trailed off**

Duncan and Harry looked at each other. Similar minds…that's why they had that connection, messed up spell or not?

**"What's that supposed to mean?" Duncan asked, but he got no response. He put the hat on its place and sighed.**

**"You are wrong"**

** Then a strange, gagging noise behind him made him wheel around.**

"What is it?" Mrs. Weasley asked cautiously.

**They weren't alone after all. Standing on a golden perch behind the door was a decrepit-looking bird that resembled a half-plucked turkey.**

Several questioning glances were shot in Harry's direction.

"Turkey?" Ron finally asked.

"How was I supposed to know what it was?" Harry protested.

**Harry and Duncan stared at it and the bird looked balefully back, making its gagging noise again. Harry thought it looked very ill. Its eyes were dull and, even as Harry watched, a couple more feathers fell out of its tail.**

"Love that bird" smiled Duncan

**Duncan was just thinking that all he needed was for Dumbledore's pet bird to die while he was alone in the office with it,** **when the bird burst into flames.**

Belloc looked at Duncan

"Not me!" he said, raising his hands in defense

**Harry yelled in shock and Duncan swore loudly, **

"Duncan!" Margaret scolded

"Sorry mom." Smiled Duncan sheepishly

**and backed away into the desk. Harry looked feverishly around in case there was a glass of water somewhere but couldn't see one; Duncan couldn't extinguish the fire as much as he tried. The bird, meanwhile, had become a fireball; it gave one loud shriek and next second there was nothing but a smoldering pile of ash on the floor.**

"What just happened?" Ron asked shakily.

Hermione sighed. "It's a Phoenix Ron, when they die, they burst into flames and are reborn from the ashes."

_"So they are related to fire, no wonder Duncan likes it so much."_ Thought Belloc

**The office door opened. Dumbledore came in, looking very somber.**  
**"Professor," Harry gasped. "Your bird - I couldn't do anything - he just caught fire-"**  
**To Harry's astonishment, Dumbledore smiled.**  
**"About time, too," he said. "He's been looking dreadful for days; I've been telling him to get a move on."**

"Er I don't think that helped them feel better sir," Isabel offered.

**He chuckled at the stunned look on Harry's face.**  
**"Fawkes is a phoenix, boys. Phoenixes burst into flame when it is time for them to die and are reborn from the ashes.**

"You see?"

"Oh shut up."

**Watch him..."**  
**Duncan looked down in time to see a tiny, wrinkled, newborn bird poke its head out of the ashes. **

"Awww…" Isabel, Maggie, Jenna, Margaret and Hermione cooed

**It was quite beautiful, thought Duncan.**

Duncan smiled in remembrance.

**"It's a shame you had to see him on a Burning Day," said Dumbledore, seating himself behind his desk. "He's really very handsome most of the time, wonderful red and gold plumage. Fascinating creatures, phoenixes. They can carry immensely heavy loads, their tears have healing powers, and they make highly faithful pets." Duncan just stared at the bird fascinated.**

"It's amazing how you gave me just the right information sir," Harry said, trying to hold back the sarcasm but failed.

Dumbledore looked down at the boy and sighed. Once these books were over, he would have to tell Harry everything.

**In the shock of Fawkes catching fire, Harry had forgotten what he was there for, but it all came back to him as Dumbledore settled himself in the high chair behind the desk and fixed Harry with his penetrating, light-blue stare.**

"I hate that look," Harry and Duncan mumbled at the same time.

**Harry nudged Duncan in the ribs to quit him staring. Before Dumbledore could speak another word, however, the door of the office flew open with an almighty bang and Hagrid burst in, a wild look in his eyes, his balaclava perched on top of his shaggy black head and the dead rooster still swinging from his hand.**

"Excellent entrance Hagrid!" Fred and George cheered.

**"It wasn' them, Professor Dumbledore!" said Hagrid urgently. "I was talkin' ter them seconds before that kid was found, they never had time, sir-"**

"I don't think he suspected the Evans, Hagrid," Ron said and Hagrid shuffled in his seat sheepishly.

**Dumbledore tried to say something, but Hagrid went ranting on, waving the rooster around in his agitation, sending feathers everywhere.**

There were a few chuckles, making Hagrid look even more embarrassed.

**"-it can't've bin him, I'll swear it in front o' the Ministry o' Magic if I have to."**  
**"Hagrid, I-"**  
**"- yeh've got the wrong boys, sir, I know Harry and Duncan never-"**

"Thanks for sticking up for me Hagrid," Harry and Duncan told the man with a smile.

"O'course," Hagrid answered, waving a large hand that sailed over Flitwick's head.

**"Hagrid!" said Dumbledore loudly. "I do not think that Harry or Duncan attacked those people."**  
**"Oh," said Hagrid, the rooster falling limply at his side. "Right. I'll wait outside then, Headmaster."**

Again there were some chuckles.

**And he stomped out looking embarrassed.**  
**"You don't think it was us, Professor?" Duncan repeated hopefully as Dumbledore brushed rooster feathers off his desk.**  
**"No, Duncan, I don't," said Dumbledore, though his face was somber again. "But I still want to talk to you."**

"Not anymore you don't," Duncan grumbled to himself.

**Harry and Duncan waited nervously while Dumbledore considered them, the tips of his long fingers together.**  
**"I must ask you, boys, whether there is anything you'd like to tell me," he said gently. "Anything at all."**  
**Harry and Duncan didn't know what to say. He thought of Malfoy shouting, "You'll be next, Mudbloods!" and of the Polyjuice Potion simmering away in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Then he thought of the disembodied voice he had heard twice and remembered what Ron had said: "Hearing voices no one else can hear isn't a good sign, even in the wizarding world." He thought, too, about what everyone was saying about him, and his growing dread that he was somehow connected with Salazar Slytherin...**

**"No," said them at the same time. "There isn't anything, Professor..."**

"You know, you could have told him guys," Hermione said gently.

"Yeah, I could have, but I didn't, so can we move on?"

**The double attack on Justin and Nearly Headless Nick turned what had hitherto been nervousness into real panic. Curiously, it was Nearly Headless Nick's fate that seemed to worry people most. What could possibly do that to a ghost? people asked each other; what terrible power could harm someone who was already dead? There was almost a stampede to book seats on the Hogwarts Express so that students could go home for Christmas.**

"And yet there wasn't a single attack that Christmas," Neville mused.

**"At this rate, we'll be the only ones left," Ron told Harry, Duncan, Nico and Hermione. "Us, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. What a jolly holiday it's going to be."**  
**Crabbe and Goyle, who always did whatever Malfoy did, had signed up to stay over the holidays, too. But the Evans were glad that most people were leaving. He was tired of people skirting around them in the corridors, as though they were about to sprout fangs or spit poison; tired of all the muttering, pointing, and hissing as he passed.**

"Well I'm used to it now unfortunately," Harry said, glaring at both Umbridge and Fudge.

**Fred and George, however, found all this very funny. They went out of their way to march ahead of Harry and Duncan down the corridors, shouting, "Make way for the Heirs of Slytherin, seriously evil wizards coming through..."**

"I never did say thanks for that did I?" Duncan said to the twins who stood up and promptly bowed.

"It was –"

"Our pleasure!"

"Just change the 'Slytherin' part, and they would be right." Chuckled Duncan bitterly. Harry looked at him confused

**Percy was deeply disapproving of this behavior.**

"Of course he was. He was deeply disapproving of any fun behavior," George spat out.

**"It is not a laughing matter," he said coldly.**

"Well were we all supposed to be panicking then? Or telling lies to make it better?" Fred said next.

**"Oh, get out of the way, Percy," said Fred. "Harry and Duncan are in a hurry."**  
**"Yeah, they are off to the Chamber of Secrets for a cup of tea with their fanged servant," said George, chortling.**

**"**Wait!" said Hermione suddenly "Why did you choose that word among all the others?" she asked sharply. George shrugged. Duncan and Hermione were more and more convinced that the Weasley's have Seer's blood.

**Ginny didn't find it amusing either.**  
**"Oh, don't," she wailed every time Fred asked Duncan loudly who he was planning to attack next, or when George pretended to ward Harry off with a large clove of garlic when they met.**  
**Harry and Duncan didn't mind; it made them feel better that Fred and George, at least, thought the idea of them being Slytherin's heir was quite ludicrous. But their antics seemed to be aggravating Draco Malfoy, who looked increasingly sour each time he saw them at it.**

"Which only made you suspect him even more," Remus added.

**"It's because he's bursting to say it's really him," said Nico knowingly. "You know how he hates anyone beating him at anything, and you're getting all the credit for his dirty work."**  
**"Not for long," said Hermione in a satisfied tone. "The Polyjuice Potion's nearly ready. We'll be getting the truth out of him any day now."**  
**At last the term ended, and a silence deep as the snow on the grounds descended on the castle. Harry found it peaceful, rather than gloomy, and enjoyed the fact that he, Hermione, and the Weasleys had the run of Gryffindor Tower, which meant they could play Exploding Snap loudly without bothering anyone, and practice dueling in private. Fred, George, and Ginny had chosen to stay at school rather than visit Bill in Egypt with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Percy, who disapproved of what he termed their childish behavior,**

"Git!" Fred, George, and Ron all coughed loudly.

**didn't spend much time in the Gryffindor common room. He had already told them pompously that he was only staying over Christmas because it was his duty as a prefect to support the teachers during this troubled time.**  
**Christmas morning dawned, cold and white. Harry, Duncan and Ron, the only ones left in their dormitory, were woken very early by Hermione, who burst in, fully dressed and carrying presents for them both.**  
**"Wake up," she said loudly, pulling back the curtains at the window.**  
**"Hermione - you're not supposed to be in here -" said Ron, shielding his eyes against the light.**

"Actually its only the boys that can't go into the girl's dormitories," Remus told Ron.

"And…?" Harry asked the unspoken question with a smile.

"And I am not going to tell you how I know." Remus said finally, a faint red tinge to his face.

**"Merry Christmas to you, too," said Hermione, throwing him his present. "I've been up for nearly an hour, adding more lacewings to the potion. It's ready."**  
**Harry and Duncan sat up, suddenly wide awake.**  
**"Are you sure?"**  
**"Positive," said Hermione, shifting Scabbers the rat so that she could sit down on the end of Ron's four-poster. "If we're going to do it, I say it should be tonight.**

"That sounded dirty" George commented. The golden quartet frowned and gagged

**We still have to wait for Nico, through."**

**At that moment, Finem swooped into the room, carrying a very small package in his beak.**  
**"Hello," said Duncan happily as he landed on his bed. "Are you speaking to me again?"**  
**He nibbled his ear in an affectionate sort of way,**

"That means yes," Luna told Duncan with a smile.

**which was a far better present than the one that she had brought him, which turned out to be from the Dursleys. They had sent Harry a toothpick and a note telling him and Duncan to find out whether he'd be able to stay at Hogwarts for the summer vacation, too.**

"I wish," Harry sighed and Belloc growled to himself.

**The rest of Harry's and Duncan's Christmas presents were far more satisfactory. Hagrid had sent them a large tin of treacle fudge, which Harry decided to soften by the fire before eating; Ron had given him a book called Flying with the Cannons, a book of interesting facts about his favorite Quidditch team,**

"Why you support them will always be a mystery to me," Fred said

"They aren't that bad!" Ron defended his team.

"Basing of what Fred has told me about them, they kind of are mate," Kenny said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh sure, side with Fred," Ron pouted.

**and Hermione had bought him a luxurious eagle-feather quill. Harry and Duncan opened the last present to find a new, hand-knitted sweater from Mrs. Weasley and a large plum cake.**

"Thanks for that Mrs. Weasley," Harry told her, giving her a warm smile.

"Of course Harry dear."

**He read her card with a fresh surge of guilt, thinking about Mr. Weasley's car (which hadn't been seen since its crash with the Whomping Willow), and the bout of rule-breaking them and Ron were planning next.**  
**No one, not even someone dreading taking Polyjuice Potion later, could fail to enjoy Christmas dinner at Hogwarts.**  
**The Great Hall looked magnificent. Not only were there a dozen frost-covered Christmas trees and thick streamers of holly and mistletoe crisscrossing the ceiling, but enchanted snow was falling, warm and dry, from the ceiling. Dumbledore led them in a few of his favorite carols, Hagrid booming more and more loudly with every goblet of eggnog he consumed.**

Hagrid blushed at his past self's actions.

**Percy, who hadn't noticed that Fred had bewitched his prefect badge so that it now read "Pinhead," kept asking them all what they were sniggering at.**

Of course in the present, all those that had been there for that Christmas were now laughing openly about it, even Mr. Weasley was hiding his smile for his wife.

**Harry and Duncan didn't even care that Draco Malfoy was making loud, snide remark about their new sweater from the Slytherin table. With a bit of luck, Malfoy would be getting his comeuppance in a few hours' time.**  
**Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron had barely finished their third helpings of Christmas pudding**

"Pigs." Said Maggie. The boys minus Duncan just smiled at her. Maggie frowned. "_I'll talk to Duncan in the break, whether he wants or not."_

** when Hermione ushered them out of the hall to finalize their plans for the evening.**  
**"We still need a bit of the people you're changing into," said Hermione matter-of-factly, as though she were sending them to the supermarket for laundry detergent. "And obviously, it'll be best if you can get something of Crabbe's and Goyle's; they're Malfoys best friends, he'll tell them anything. Blasie Zabini and Theodore Nott are also good friends of his."**

Blasie and Theodore looked furious

**"Don't worry, Zabini left some hairs in my robes when he was strangling me." Said Duncan, while Nico said he had all prepared**

** And we also need to make sure the real guys can't burst in on us while we're interrogating him.**

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Fred asked.

"Well if you'd let your sister read, you might find out," Hermione replied in an innocent voice.

**"I've got it all worked out," she went on smoothly, ignoring Harry's, Nico's and Ron's stupefied faces. She held up two plump chocolate cakes. "I've filled these with a simple Sleeping Draught. All you have to do is make sure Crabbe and Goyle find them. You know how greedy they are, they're bound to eat them. Once they're asleep, pull out a few of their hairs and hide them in a broom closet."**

"That is scarily devious." George said, sounding surprised.

"How come you never came up with that kind of stuff for us?" Fred whined.

**Harry and Ron looked incredulously at each other.**  
**"Hermione, I don't think-"**  
**"That could go seriously wrong-"**  
**But Hermione had a steely glint in her eye not unlike the one Professor McGonagall sometimes had.**

"Was that a compliment Harry?" Hermione asked innocently, but Harry saw the look in her eyes and  
he gulped.

"Yes it was," he said quickly.

**"The potion will be useless without Crabbe's and Goyle's hair," she said sternly. "You do want to investigate Malfoy, don't you?"**  
**"Oh, all right, all right," said Harry. "But what about you? Whose hair are you ripping out?"**  
**"I've already got mine!" said Hermione brightly, pulling a tiny bottle out of her pocket and showing them the single hair inside it. "Remember Millicent Bulstrode wrestling with me at the Dueling Club? She left this on my robes when she was trying to strangle me!**

"Stupid cat," Hermione mumbled.

**And she's gone home for Christmas - so I, Duncan and Nico just have to tell the Slytherins we've decided to come back."**

**"Exactly." Smiled Duncan and Nico**  
**When Hermione had bustled off to check on the Polyjuice Potion again, Ron turned to Harry with a doom-laden expression.**

"Doom-laden?" Ron inquired.

"Well gloomy and depressed didn't seem like enough," Harry shrugged.

**"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"**

"Well now that you said that," the twins trailed off.

**But to Harry's and Ron's utter amazement, stage one of the operation went just as smoothly as Hermione and Duncan had said.**

"Did you really doubt that it would?" Duncan said smugly.

"You know," Ron said to Harry in a conversational tone, "We really should listen to him more often."

**They lurked in the deserted entrance hall after Christmas tea, waiting for Crabbe and Goyle who had remained alone at the Slytherin table, shoveling down fourth helpings of trifle. Harry had perched the chocolate cakes on the end of the banisters. When they spotted Crabbe and Goyle coming out of the Great Hall, Harry and Ron hid quickly behind a suit of armor next to the front door.**

"They really cant be that thick can they?" Neville asked.

**"How thick can you get?" Ron whispered ecstatically as Crabbe gleefully pointed out the cakes to Goyle and grabbed them. Grinning stupidly, they stuffed the cakes whole into their large mouths.**

"Evidently they are," Neville answered himself.

**For a moment, both of them chewed greedily, looks of triumph on their faces. Then, without the smallest change of expression, they both keeled over backward onto the floor.**  
**By far the hardest part was hiding them in the closet across the hall. Once they were safely stowed among the buckets and mops, Harry yanked out a couple of the bristles that covered Goyle's forehead and Ron pulled out several of Crabbe's hairs. They also stole their shoes, because their own were far too small for Crabbe- and Goyle-size feet. Then, still stunned at what they had just done, they sprinted up to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**  
**They could hardly see for the thick black smoke issuing from the stall in which Hermione was stirring the cauldron. Pulling their robes up over their faces, Harry and Ron knocked softly on the door.**  
**"Hermione? Nico? Duncan?"**  
**They heard the scrape of the lock and Hermione, Duncan and Nico emerged, shiny-faced and looking anxious. Behind her they heard the gloop gloop of the bubbling, glutinous potion.**

"That really doesn't sound good," Luna stated happily, earning her many questioning looks.

**Three glass tumblers stood ready on the toilet seat.**  
**"Did you get them?" Hermione asked breathlessly.**  
**Harry showed her Goyle's hair.**  
**"Good. And I sneaked these spare robes out of the laundry," Hermione said, holding up a small sack. "You'll need bigger sizes once you're Crabbe and Goyle."**  
**The five of them stared into the cauldron. Close up, the potion looked like thick, dark mud, bubbling sluggishly.**

"Successfully brewing Polyjuice in second year, in a toilet stall no less," Snape grumbled. "Of course, know it all Granger."

"Perhaps you should just let it go Severus and accept that the girl is the brightest witch of her age," Belloc said with a cold smile.

**"I'm sure I've done everything right," said Hermione, nervously rereading the splotched page of Moste Potente Potions. "It looks like the book says it should... once we've drunk it, we'll have exactly an hour before we change back into ourselves."**  
**"Now what?" Ron whispered.**  
**"We separate it into five glasses and add the hairs."**  
**Hermione ladled large dollops of the potion into each of the glasses. Then, her hand trembling, she shook Millicent Bulstrode's hair out of its bottle into the first glass.**  
**The potion hissed loudly like a boiling kettle and frothed madly. A second later, it had turned a sick sort of yellow.**  
**"Urgh - essence of Millicent Bulstrode," said Ron, eyeing it with loathing. "Bet it tastes disgusting."**

"Probably better than Crabbe or Goyle," Hermione said, wrinkling her nose.

**"Add yours, then," said Hermione.**  
**Harry dropped Goyle's hair into a glass, Nico put Theodore's, Duncan put Blasie's, and Ron put Crabbe's into the last one. Both glasses hissed and frothed: Goyle's turned the khaki color of a booger, Crabbe's a dark, murky brown, Blasie's a dark green and Theodore's a deep brown.**

"Er…shouldn't you all go to separate stalls? I doubt all three of you would fit since none of those three are exactly small." Belloc said and Duncan smirked.

**"Hang on," said Duncan as Ron, Nico, Harry and Hermione reached for their glasses. "We'd better not all drink them in here... Once we turn into them we won't fit. And Millicent Bulstrode's no pixie."**

"See we did," Duncan said, still smirking.

**"Good thinking," said Ron, unlocking the door. "We'll take separate stalls."**  
**Careful not to spill a drop of his Polyjuice Potion, Harry slipped into the middle stall.**  
**"Ready?" he called.**  
**"Ready," came Ron's, Duncan's, Nico's and Hermione's voices.**  
**"One - two - three-"**  
**Pinching his nose, Harry drank the potion down in two large gulps. It tasted like overcooked cabbage.**  
**Immediately, his insides started writhing as though he'd just swallowed live snakes - doubled up, he wondered whether he was going to be sick - then a burning sensation spread rapidly from his stomach to the very ends of his fingers and toes - next, bringing him gasping to all fours, came a horrible melting feeling, as the skin all over his body bubbled like hot wax - and before his eyes, his hands began to grow, the fingers thickened, the nails broadened, the knuckles were bulging like bolts - his shoulders stretched painfully and a prickling on his forehead told him that hair was creeping down toward his eyebrows - his robes ripped as his chest expanded like a barrel bursting its hoops - his feet were agony in shoes four sizes too small.**

"I think those pictures in the book were pretty accurate," Harry said nonchalantly.

"That sounded…" Ginny searched for the right word.

"Terrible? Awful? Painful?" Fred and George offered.

"No…worse than those." She shuddered. "It sounded bad."

"Bad?" Ron laughed. "It was worse than bad Gin."

**As suddenly as it had started, everything stopped. Harry lay facedown on the stone-cold floor, listening to Myrtle gurgling morosely in the end toilet. With difficulty, he kicked off his shoes and stood up. So this was what it felt like, being Goyle. His large hand trembling, he pulled off his old robes, which were hanging a foot above his ankles, pulled on the spare ones, and laced up Goyle's boatlike shoes. He reached up to brush his hair out of his eyes and met only the short growth of wiry bristles, low on his forehead. Then he realized that his glasses were clouding his eyes because Goyle obviously didn't need them - he took them off and called, "Are you four okay?" Goyle's low rasp of a voice issued from his mouth.**

"That was so weird," Harry mused. "Being someone else yet still being you…"

**"Yeah," came the deep grunt of Crabbe from his right, the soft voice of Blasie and the deep voice of Theodore.**  
**Harry unlocked his door and stepped in front of the cracked mirror. Goyle stared back at him out of dull, deepest eyes. Harry scratched his ear. So did Goyle.**

"Scratch that. That was weirder."

**Ron's door opened. They stared at each other. Except that he looked pale and shocked, Ron was indistinguishable from Crabbe, from the pudding-bowl haircut to the long, gorilla arms. Duncan's door opened. He looked like he had been sick, but he looked like Zabini. Tall, dark-skinned with high cheekbones and long, slanting eyes that puts a chill in the air. Next Nico's door opened. He was like Theodore to a T. Brown-haired, brown eyed and weakly built.**

**"This is unbelievable," said Ron, approaching the mirror and prodding Crabbe's flat nose. "Unbelievable."**

"You know, repeating the word doesn't make it any more believable," George said in a loud and clear voice.

"Oh shut up."

**"We'd better get going," said Harry, loosening the watch that was cutting into Goyle's thick wrist. "We've still got to find out where the Slytherin common room is. I only hope we can find someone to follow..."**

"It really isn't that hard to find," Remus, Fred, and George all said at the same time.

"And how did you find the Slytherin common room?" McGonagall asked Remus. "That was never answered during your many detentions."

"Trade secret. Besides, you cant say that you didn't find all the red and gold funny on the day of a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match."

"You turned the Slytherins red and gold?" Fred asked in awe.

Remus waved a hand. "Admittedly it was one of the easier pranks. Now sticking all of their beds to the ceiling…that was fun."

Fred and George continued to stare at their former professor in amazement, long after Ginny resumed reading.

**Nico, who had been gazing at Harry, said, "You don't know how bizarre it is to see Goyle thinking." He banged on Hermione's door. "C'mon, we need to go-"**  
**A high-pitched voice answered him.**  
**"I - I don't think I'm going to come after all. You go on without me."**

"Why aren't you going with them?" Belloc asked the girl next to him.

**"Hermione, we know Millicent Bulstrode's ugly, no one's going to know it's you-"**

"Somehow I don't think that's the problem," Isabel said tartly. Millicent looked furious

**"No - really - I don't think I'll come. You two hurry up, you're wasting time-"**  
**Harry looked at Duncan, bewildered.**  
**"That looks more like Goyle," said Ron. "That's how he looks every time a teacher asks him a question."**

"I thought that was Harry's natural look?" George quipped and his mother waved her wand, letting an invisible hand hit the back of George's head. "Ow! Mum!"

**"Hermione, are you okay?" said Duncan through the door.**  
**"Fine - I'm fine - go on-"**  
**Nico looked at his watch. Five of their precious sixty minutes had already passed.**  
**"We'll meet you back here, all right?" he said.**  
**Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron opened the door of the bathroom carefully, checked that the coast was clear, and set off.**  
**"Don't swing your arms like that," Duncan muttered to Ron.**

"Huh?"

**"Eh?"**  
**"Crabbe holds them sort of stiff..."**  
**"How's this?"**  
**"Yeah, that's better..."**

"Really observant, Rosenblatt." Said Moody

**They went down the marble staircase. All they needed now was a Slytherin that they could follow to the Slytherin common room, but there was nobody around.**

"I'd go to the Great Hall and find one still eating, then follow them if it was me," Fred mused. "Why did we never think about doing that George?"

"Because we're bad at potions?" George offered.

**"Any ideas?" muttered Duncan.**  
**"The Slytherins always come up to breakfast from over there," said Nico, nodding at the entrance to the dungeons. The words had barely left his mouth when a girl with long, curly hair emerged from the entrance.**  
**"Excuse me," said Ron, hurrying up to her. "We've forgotten the way to our common room."**

"Too polite," Fred said.

"Did you check to make sure that she was a Slytherin?" Neville wondered and Ron blushed.

**"I beg your pardon?" said the girl stiffly. "Our common room? I'm a Ravenclaw."**

"Or not," Neville said, grinning at Ron.

"Hey we were in a hurry all right?"

**She walked away, looking suspiciously back at them.**  
**Harry and Ron hurried down the stone steps into the darkness, their footsteps echoing particularly loudly as Crabbe's and Goyle's huge feet hit the floor, feeling that this wasn't going to be as easy as they had hoped. Duncan and Nico panted behind them**

"You think?" Remus said sarcastically.

**The labyrinthine passages were deserted. They walked deeper and deeper under the school, constantly checking their watches to see how much time they had left. After a quarter of an hour, just when they were getting desperate, they heard a sudden movement ahead.**  
**"Ha!" said Ron excitedly. "There's one of them now!"**  
**The figure was emerging from a side room. As they hurried nearer, however, their hearts sank. It wasn't a Slytherin, it was Percy.**

"What were you doing down there?" George asked, forgetting for a moment that his older brother  
wasn't talking to him.

**"What're you doing down here?" said Ron in surprise.**  
**Percy looked affronted.**  
**"That," he said stiffly, "is none of your business. It's Crabbe, isn't it?"**  
**"Wh - oh, yeah," said Ron.**  
**"Well, get off to your dormitories," said Percy sternly. "It's not safe to go wandering around dark corridors these days."**

"You are," Fred pointed out.

**"You are," Ron pointed out.**

"No! Freddie! Why do you have to think like Ronneikins!" George sobbed. "Ow! Oh come on Mum, I was joking!"

"Well you shouldn't be joking about your brothers." Mrs. Weasley said stiffly.

**"I," said Percy, drawing himself up, "am a prefect. Nothing's about to attack me."**

"Power doesn't make you immune to the horrors of the world," Mr. Weasley said softly, looking up at his son, who shifted under his father's gaze.

**A voice suddenly echoed behind Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron. Draco Malfoy was strolling toward them, and for the first time in his life,**

"And last," Harry added.

**Harry was pleased to see him.**  
**"There you are," he drawled, looking at them. "Have you two been pigging out in the Great Hall all this time? Blasie, Theo, I've been looking for you; I want to show you something really funny."**

"If Malfoy thinks it's funny then it can't be good." Neville frowned.

"It wasn't." Harry told him, noticing the anger on Ron's face at the reminder.

**Malfoy glanced witheringly at Percy.**  
**"And what're you doing down here, Weasley?" he sneered.**  
**Percy looked outraged.**  
**"You want to show a bit more respect to a school prefect!" he said. "I don't like your attitude!"**  
**Malfoy sneered and motioned for Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron to follow him. Duncan almost said something apologetic to Percy but caught himself just in time. He and Ron hurried after Malfoy, who said as they turned into the next passage, "That Peter Weasley-"**  
**"Percy," Ron corrected him automatically.**

"No Ron!" Fred exclaimed. "His name isn't Percy!

"It's ba-"

"George!" To everyone's surprise, it was Mr. Weasley who scolded George, not his wife.

"Sorry Dad," George apologized, sounding truly sorry.

**"Whatever," said Malfoy. "I've noticed him sneaking around a lot lately. And I bet I know what he's up to. He thinks he's going to catch Slytherin's heir single-handed."**  
**He gave a short, derisive laugh. Harry and Duncan exchanged excited looks.**  
**Malfoy paused by a stretch of bare, damp stone wall.**  
**"What's the new password again?" he said to Nico.**  
**"Er -"**

"It usually has something to do with blood purity," Remus said.

**"Oh, yeah - pure-blood!"**

"Evidently not much has changed."

**said Malfoy, not listening, and a stone door concealed in the wall slid open. Malfoy marched through it, and Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron followed him.**  
**The Slytherin common room was a long, low underground room with rough stone walls and ceiling from which round, greenish lamps were hanging on chains. A fire was crackling under an elaborately carved mantelpiece ahead of them, and several Slytherins were silhouetted around it in high-backed chairs.**

"It's amazing at how little the castle changes over time," Remus mused. "The only thing that every really changes are faces you see in the halls."

**"Wait here," said Malfoy to Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron, motioning them to a pair of empty chairs set back from the fire. "I'll go and get it my father's just sent it to me-"**  
**Wondering what Malfoy was going to show them, they sat down, doing their best to look at home.**  
**Malfoy came back a minute later, holding what looked like a newspaper clipping. He thrust it under Ron's nose.**  
**"That'll give you a laugh," he said.**  
**Harry saw Ron's eyes widen in shock. He read the clipping quickly, gave a very forced laugh, and handed it to Harry and Duncan and Nico.**  
**It had been clipped out of the Daily Prophet, and it said:****  
****[*INQUIRY AT THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC**  
**Arthur Weasley, Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office, was today fined fifty Galleons for bewitching a Muggle car.**  
**Mr. Lucius Malfoy, a governor of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where the enchanted car crashed earlier this year, called today for Mr. Weasley's resignation. "Weasley has brought the Ministry into disrepute," Mr. Malfoy told our reporter. "He is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be scrapped immediately."**  
**Judging by the look of triumph on Umbridge's face, it was clear that she agreed with Lucius' statement.**  
**Mr. Weasley was unavailable for comment, although his wife told reporters to clear off or she'd set the family ghoul on them.**

"Go Mum!" The twins shouted happily.

**Duncan and Nico burst out laughing. Duncan gave Harry a warning look**

"Good, keep your façade." Said Belloc approvingly

**"Well?" said Malfoy impatiently as Harry handed the clipping back to him. "Don't you think it's funny?"**

"No. I don't." Harry said sharply and Mr. Weasley gave him a warm smile.

**"Ha, ha," said Harry bleakly.**  
**"Arthur Weasley loves Muggles so much he should snap his wand in half and go and join them," said Malfoy scornfully. "You'd never know the Weasleys were pure-bloods, the way they behave."**

"Why you filthy little –" Ginny exclaimed loudly, breaking off when she saw her mother's glare.

"Whatever you two are going to do, I want in." She told Fred and George who had begun to whisper conspiratorially.

**Ron's - or rather, Crabbe's - face was contorted with fury.**  
**"What's up with you, Crabbe?" snapped Malfoy.**  
**"Stomachache," Ron grunted.**  
**"Well, go up to the hospital wing and give all those Mudbloods a kick from me," said Malfoy, snickering.**

"Vile little ferret," Ron grumbled, low enough that his mother couldn't hear.

McGonagall looked over at Severus. "Something needs to be done with that boy." She whispered

Snape, his eyes colder than Harry had ever seen, nodded grimly. "I agree."

**"You know, I'm surprised the Daily Prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet," he went on thoughtfully. "I suppose Dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. He'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. Father's always said old Dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place.**

"That's not true!" Harry said hotly. "He's the best Headmaster ever! You just hate him because he doesn't favor you!"

"Thank you Harry," Dumbledore said, giving the boy a gentle smile.

"Err…mate? You do realize that you're talking to a book right?" Ron laughed.

"Shut up," Harry grumbled.

**He loves Muggle-borns. A decent headmaster would never've let slime like that Creevey in."**

"No, a decent Headmaster would never have let you in!" Hermione snapped in frustration. The Malfoys looked like they were about to reply, but Ginny had started reading again

**Malfoy started taking pictures with an imaginary camera and did a cruel but accurate impression of Colin: "`Potter, can I have your picture, Potter? Can I have your autograph? Can I lick your shoes, please, Potter?"**  
**Duncan and Nico snorted forcefully. He dropped his hands and looked at Harry and Ron.**  
**"What's the matter with you two?"**  
**Far too late, Harry and Ron forced themselves to laugh, but Malfoy seemed satisfied; perhaps Crabbe and Goyle were always slow on the uptake.**

"You think?" Fred said bleakly.

**"Saint Potter, the Mudbloods' friend," said Malfoy slowly. "He's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that jumped up Granger Mudblood. And people think he and his cousin's Slytherin's heir!"**

"You know, I do have to agree with him there," Remus said thoughtfully.

"What! How?" Ron demanded.

Clearly unfazed, Remus answered. "If they truly were Slytherin's heirs, then they would not have made friends with either you or Hermione or Nico, nor would they have placed in Gryffindor since Godric was the one founder most accepting of Muggle born students."

"Oh." Was Ron's brilliant reply.

**Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron waited with bated breath: Malfoy was surely seconds away from telling them it was him - but then "I wish I knew who it is," said Malfoy petulantly. "I could help them."**  
**Duncan's jaw dropped so that Blasie looked clueless.**

"A rare sight." Muttered Draco

**Fortunately, Malfoy didn't notice, and Harry, thinking fast, said, "You must have some idea who's behind it all..."**  
**"You know I haven't, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you?" snapped Malfoy. "And Father won't tell me anything about the last time the Chamber was opened either. Of course, it was fifty years ago, so it was before his time, but he knows all about it, and he says that it was all kept quiet and it'll look suspicious if I know too much about it. But I know one thing - last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a Mudblood died. So I bet it's a matter of time before one of them's killed this time... I hope it's Granger," he said with relish.**

Duncan and Harry gave a growl so animalistic that people started inching away from them.

"One more comment like that and you'll be dead" Duncan muttered

Snape meanwhile was glaring at the book in Ginny's hands. While he may not like Granger, in a way she reminded him so much of Lily that that was why he was hard on her.

**Ron was clenching Crabbe's gigantic fists and Duncan's hand was already slowly moving towards Malfoy. Feeling that it would be a bit of a giveaway if Ron or Duncan punched Malfoy,**

"Really? You don't say?" Luna said mildly and a few people chuckled.

**Nico shot them a warning look and said, "D'you know if the person who opened the Chamber last time was caught?"**  
**"Oh, yeah... whoever it was was expelled," said Malfoy. "They're probably still in Azkaban."**

Hagrid stiffened in his seat at the mention of the horrid prison. He was hoping that why he was expelled never came out, even though he was innocent.

**"Azkaban?" said Harry, puzzled.**  
**"Azkaban - the wizard prison,**

"Azkaban does play a large role in your life after this doesn't it?" Remus said with a smile on his face.

"Yeah, odd it may be, but I think I have a lot to thank Azkaban for." Harry replied and those who knew what – or who – they were talking about smiled at the exchange.

**Goyle," said Malfoy, looking at him in disbelief "Honestly, if you were any slower, you'd be going backward."**

"Going backwards?" Fred asked with a grin. "Are you thinking what I am George?"

"Oh most definitely Fred," George answered, returning the grin.

**He shifted restlessly in his chair and said, "Father says to keep my head down and let the Heir of Slytherin get on with it. He says the school needs ridding of all the Mudblood filth, but not to get mixed up in it. Of course, he's got a lot on his plate at the moment. You know the Ministry of Magic raided our manor last week?"**

"Yes they did." Mr. Weasley said with a joyful expression.

**Harry tried to force Goyle's dull face into a look of concern.**  
**"Yeah..." said Malfoy. "Luckily, they didn't find much. Father's got some very valuable Dark Arts stuff. But luckily, we've got our own secret chamber under the drawing-room floor-"**

"That's where you heard about it?" Mr. Weasley asked Ron.

"Well yeah," Ron answered.

"Arthur! You knew about this?" Mrs. Weasley glared at her husband who raised his hands in surrender.

"I didn't know how he got the information. He merely told me that he overheard Malfoy talking about it."

**"Ho!" said Ron.**  
**Malfoy looked at him. So did Harry, Duncan and Nico. Ron blushed. Even his hair was turning red. His nose was also slowly lengthening**

Ron rubbed his nose subconsciously.

**- their hour was up, Ron was turning back into himself, and from the look of horror he was suddenly giving Harry, he must be, too.**  
**They four jumped to their feet.**  
**"Medicine for my stomach," Ron grunted, and without further ado they sprinted the length of the Slytherin common room, hurled themselves at the stone wall, and dashed up the passage, hoping against hope that Malfoy hadn't noticed anything. Harry could feel his feet slipping around in Goyle's huge shoes and had to hoist up his robes as he shrank; they crashed up the steps into the dark entrance hall, which was full of a muffled pounding coming from the closet where they'd locked Crabbe and Goyle.**

"I was wondering for how long they would be out," Neville mused.

"Not long enough," Harry and Ron answered together.

**Leaving their shoes outside the closet door, they sprinted in their socks up the marble staircase toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.**  
**"Well, it wasn't a complete waste of time," Ron panted, closing the bathroom door behind them. "I know we still haven't found out who's doing the attacks, but I'm going to write to Dad tomorrow and tell him to check under the Malfoys' drawing room."**

"Well at least something got accomplished. Whatever came of that anyway Dad?" Ron asked his father.

"Well I gave the information to the confiscation department but they sent it back saying that there was a lack of truth in the statement and since I couldn't say I got the information from my twelve year old son… However, I think there is enough credibility now?" Mr. Weasley looked up at both the Minister and Amelia Bones.

Amelia nodded, "Yes I daresay a visit to Malfoy Manor is long overdue." Duncan, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Nico, Isabel, Kenny and Maggie smirked evilly at the Malfoys

**Harry checked his face in the cracked mirror. He was back to normal. He put his glasses on as Nico hammered on the door of Hermione's stall.**  
**"Hermione, come out, we've got loads to tell you-"**  
**"Go away!" Hermione squeaked.**

"What's wrong?" Remus asked Hermione who shook her head, clearly embarrassed.

**Harry, Duncan, Nico and Ron looked at each other.**  
**"What's the matter?" said Ron. "You must be back to normal by now, we are."**  
**But Moaning Myrtle glided suddenly through the stall door. Harry had never seen her looking so happy.**

"That's not a good sign," Ginny said with a frown. "Myrtle's only happy when someone else is miserable."

**"Ooooooh, wait till you see," she said. "It's awful-"**  
**They heard the lock slide back and Hermione emerged, sobbing, her robes pulled up over her head.**  
**"What's up?" said Nico uncertainly. "Have you still got Millicent's nose or something?"**

"Worse." Hermione said grimly.

**Hermione let her robes fall and Ron backed into the sink.**  
**Her face was covered in black fur. Her eyes had turned yellow and there were long, pointed ears poking through her hair.**

"Was it a cat hair?" Remus asked, understanding the situation at once.

**"It was a c-cat hair!" she howled. "M-Millicent Bulstrode m-must have a cat! And the p-potion isn't supposed to be used for animal transformations!"**  
**"Uh-oh," said Ron.**

"Uh-oh?" Ginny repeated incredulously. "One of your friends looks like a giant cat and all you can say is 'uh-oh'? Really Ron?"

**"You'll be teased something dreadful," said Myrtle happily.****  
****"It's okay, Hermione," said Duncan quickly. "We'll take you up to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey never asks too many questions..."**  
**It took a long time to persuade Hermione to leave the bathroom. Moaning Myrtle sped them on their way with a hearty guffaw. "Wait till everyone finds out you've got a tail!"**

"That's the end of the chapter" Ginny said

"We'll have a break before we start to read the next chapter" Dumbledore said.

* * *

**Another over! Review please! And don't forget my other story!**

**POP QUESTION: You know Maggie's going to talk with Duncan. What's going to be her reaction to the truth?**


	16. Break part 1

**Tachán! Here's the break! review and enjoy!**

* * *

Maggie stood up and started walking towards Duncan, but a hand stopped her.

"Maggie, you have been friends with Duncan your entire life, haven't you?" Hermione whispered

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I have heard some things about him, and I have been doing some research, and I thought...maybe you can help me with it."

Maggie frowned. Research? What this have to do with Duncan? Was he ill or something? She looked at Duncan again, but he had disappeared. "_Okay, he can be anywhere, I have nothing best to do"_

Curiosity clouded her anger, and she followed Hermione.

* * *

Duncan was feeling like his world was falling apart. Go to Hell his determination to not to fall in love with Maggie, it was far too late for that. He would tell her his feelings and the truth of what he really was. He just hoped she take it well.

He felt a warm feeling in his hand. He looked at it and gasped. He now had a silver moon in the center of his hand, and it was almost full.

_"What is this?"_

He started running towards his parents.

"Mom, Dad, look at this!" he said as he reached them. "Any idea of what is this?" he asked, showing them his moon. Margaret's face changed into concern and fury but Belloc looked simply gleeful.

"Duncan" Margaret started. "Have you been…erm…" she trailed off, looking for the right word.

"Mating?" Belloc suggested.

"Yes, mating with someone?" she finished. Duncan just looked at them.

"You mean mate as…as having sex? What?! No! NO!" he quickly denied it. "What this has to do with…?"

His parents then showed him their left hands. They had a black full moon in the center of their palms. Duncan frowned. "_Why didn't I noticed Mom's moon before?"_ he wondered

"This is a mate mark, Duncan" Belloc said.

"When I agreed to become your father's mate, I was a bit reluctant at first…" Margaret started.

"What? You were?" interrupted Belloc.

"…but as I was falling for him…" continued Margaret ignoring her husband. "The moon continued growing, and it completed and blackened the night you were conceived." She finished.

"I don't think he needed to know all the details." Chuckled Belloc, seeing Duncan's expression.

"Ew. But I'm only sixteen!" Duncan protested

"Well, I was only eighteen" Margaret retorted.

"So when did that happened? As far as I know, I only have been alone with Maggie in the first break, and I didn't ask her…anything like that." Explained Duncan

"You did realize you loved her in that break, didn't you? Now that I think about it, why you and Maggie looked so depressed after the break?" Belloc asked

"Well…I remembered she doesn't know what I am, and also what you told me about the Counsel. I can't risk her like that. So I tried to convince myself I did not like her like that. Well, that ended great didn't it?" he chuckled bitterly, overwhelmed for the new information.

"That will only bring you pain. She's your mate, and she needs to know. Now go and tell her, allright?" said Belloc.

"I will. Thanks" Duncan said, and ran out of the Hall. Belloc smirked.

"Prepare to pay, Margaret." He said. Margaret chuckled.

* * *

Find Maggie was more difficult that he thought. He had looked for her everywhere. He looked at his watch, he only had half an hour left. Why that castle had to be so big? How he could find her qui…?

_"I'm so stupid_!" he mentally screamed at himself.

"_Can't argue with you in that one."_ Harry chuckled.

_"The Marauders' Map, Harry! You have it! Tell me where's Maggie!"_ Duncan growled exasperated.

"_Allright. I still can't believe you didn't tell me._" Harry said a bit hurt. "_I thought there were no secrets between us."_

"_Like you and Isabel, you mean?"_ said Duncan

_"You want to find her or not?"_

_"Okay, okay, keep your hair on."_ Duncan sighed. Harry chuckled a bit.

_"She's with Hermione. She's in the library, Romeo."_

Duncan didn't answer; he just went there at full sprint.

* * *

He found her and Hermione in a table with books and papers everywhere. Hermione had a thoughtful expression and Maggie was wide-eyed.

"Still can't find anything" Hermione was saying. "Have you found anything, Maggie?" she saw Maggie's expression. "Maggie?"

"It can't be…" she said slowly.

Duncan cleared his throat andhe stepped out from behind the bookshelves. He frowned at the sight that greeted him: Both girls looked as though they had been Petrified by the sight of him, and the color was draining out of Maggie's face.

"Maggie, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked hestitantly. Maggie nodded.

Duncan guided her outside the library, and they hid in an empty classroom. He looked at her in the eyes and steeled himself.

"Why you have been avoiding me?" Maggie asked before he could open his mouth. Duncan just looked at her with eyes so full of insecurity that she felt bad for been so sharp.

"I will explain everything, I swear. I have been avoiding you because I'm a bloody coward, and I don't want you in danger. And you will probably be, seeing as I…accidentally….chose you…as my…mate." He finally finished, showing her his hand. Maggie gasped and looked at her hand. Duncan's moon was almost completed.

Duncan saw Maggie's moon and smiled as he remembered. "_The more it grows, the more you fall in love."_

He reached for his hand. _Please…_

"You are probably wondering how's that possible, what do I mean with 'mate'" _It's now or never_, he thought. "The thing is…all the strange things that are mentioned about me in the book…the fire references…my sharper senses…everything…has a why." _Please…_

He took a deep breath and breathed out a little flame.

_Please…_

"I'm half Kaiju."

Maggie felt her heart skip a beat. Tears appeared in her eyes and she grabbed his arm as strong as she could, bringing him closer to her, engulfing him in a fierce hug, dragging him as close to her as she could.

"I know," she whispered. "I know," she repeated over and over, her tears falling onto his warm back. "I know."

* * *

**next part will come soon! Review!**


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